An Ohio woman who had sought treatment at a hospital before suffering a miscarriage and passing her nonviable fetus in her bathroom now faces a criminal charge, her attorney told CNN.
Brittany Watts, 33, of Warren, has been charged with felony abuse of a corpse, Trumbull County court records show.
“Ms. Watts suffered a tragic and dangerous miscarriage that jeopardized her own life. Rather than focusing on healing physically and emotionally, she was arrested and charged with a felony,” her attorney, Traci Timko, told CNN in an email.
…
Though a coroner’s office report said the fetus was not viable and had died in the womb, Watts’ case highlights the extent to which prosecutors can charge a woman whose pregnancy has ended – whether by abortion or miscarriage.
The hospital staff notified the Warren Police Department, which responded to Watts’ home, the coroner’s office report says.
CNN reached out to the hospital for comment about why staff notified police. Maureen Richmond, vice president of integrated communications at Mercy Health – a Catholic health care system that includes St. Joseph Warren Hospital – sent the following statement to CNN:
“The safety and security of every patient who comes to us for care is our highest priority. Out of respect for patient privacy, we will not discuss individual specifics of care.
Except when it comes to snitching on people.
The laaaaaaaaand of the freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Too bad medical science can’t invent a killer virus that takes out right wing fundamentalists with pinpoint accuracy.
Isn’t advocating for genocide a bit much?
The day they stop trying to shove their own personal religious choices down everyone else’s throat and criminalizing what should be a woman’s own bodily autonomy is the day I stop feeling this way.
So you think the punishment for being even remotely associated with the politicians doing that should carry the punishment of a slow and painful death? A lot of fundies don’t even fucking vote. I think we need protections against their craziness enshrined in law and anyone directly interfering with someone else’s autonomy should be arrested, but mass murder is fucking insane and you know it.
Who the hell would want to get pregnant in the US at this point?
People who think politics doesn’t affect them.
A huge percentage of pregnancies end in miscarriage, very often before the woman even knows she was pregnant. This is the same. She should have to take special care of the mass her body rejected just because it was in there a little longer? What’s the cutoff for having to report that you had a miscarriage, then? Every period? Every time you have a period that’s a week or two late, because that is reasonably likely to have been a miscarriage?
This was a non-viable fetus. It was never going to be a person. It’s not a corpse.
The problem is, once we’ve decided the vials of humanity are out of reach, there’s no telling where the divine will go. It’s like trying to reach into endless oceans only to find being swept into darkness, the water only grows.
Vials? What?
Are you okay?
deleted by creator
Please take your meds I’m begging you
Why does anyone mediate when no one drives the effort? The essence of all things is when harmony comes from inside. All else is caves.
The nurse that called 911 on her should be deeply ashamed of themselves
Any cop that would arrest this woman, and any DA that would charge her deserve to be beaten to death.
She’s black so the point is it’s supposed to be ok.
I wish I was joking.
