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brittany watts
Ohio Woman Won't Be Charged After Miscarriage But 'This Doesn't Undo the Harm'
"Criminalizing a woman for miscarrying at home shouldn't have happened in the first place," said SisterSong. "Our fight for reproductive justice isn't over."
Jan 11, 2024
While welcoming that an Ohio woman who miscarried a nonviable fetus last year won't face a felony charge of abuse of a corpse, reproductive rights advocates on Thursday highlighted Brittany Watts' experience as further proof that, as Jane's Due Process put it, "pregnant people still live with the threat of prosecution in the current oppressive environment."
The Trumbull County grand jury's decision to not indict Watts—who miscarried at her Warren home in September at just over 21 weeks pregnant—comes after the 34-year-old's case garnered national attention amid battles over reproductive freedom that have ramped up in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
"Let's be clear that this doesn't undo the harm, and the case shouldn't have been pursued in the first place," the group Pregnancy Justice said after the grand jury's decision. "This is why advocacy matters. As long as prosecutors feel obligated to criminalize pregnancy, there will be more cases like Brittany's. When we fight collectively, we can win."
SisterSong similarly declared that "we're relieved Brittany Watts will NOT be criminalized for having a miscarriage. It's wild to us that we even have to say something like that, because... criminalizing a woman for miscarrying at home shouldn't have happened in the first place."
"Our fight for reproductive justice isn't over," the organization stressed. "We will continue to demand a world where we have the autonomy to make decisions about our bodies."
The Afiya Center pointed out that Black women like Watts face "a higher risk of maternal mortality and morbidity."
"Let’s be clear—Brittany Watts should never have been charged with a felony because of her pregnancy outcome," the center said. "The criminalization of Black folk who miscarry sets a dangerous tone and poses a threat to the health of ALL Black pregnant folk."
Watts and her attorney, Traci Timko, also emphasized the need for broader change on Thursday.
"From the start of this case, I have argued that the charge was not supported by Ohio law and that Brittany was being demonized for something that takes place in the privacy of women's homes regularly," Timko said in a statement. "No matter how shocking or disturbing it may sound when presented in a public forum, it is simply the devastating reality of miscarriage.”
"We thank the public for the outpouring of love and support Brittany received. To the countless women who reached out to share their own devastating stories of pregnancy loss—Brittany read every one of them and felt a sisterhood to each of you," the lawyer said. "The emails, letters, calls, donations, and prayers—they all played a part in empowering and getting her through each day. It is our hope and intention to make sure that Brittany's story is an impetus to change."
The Associated Pressreported that while speaking at a pre-planned event on Thursday, Watts said: "I want to thank my community—Warren. Warren, Ohio. I was born here. I was raised here. I graduated high school here, and I'm going to continue to stay here because I have to continue to fight."
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Ohio Doctors Urge Prosecutor to Drop Case Against Woman Who Suffered Miscarriage
A prosecutor in Trumbull County, Ohio is "under no legal obligation" to prosecute Brittany Watts, said an advocacy group.
Dec 28, 2023
Joined by national reproductive rights groups, a physician-led advocacy organization in Ohio is pushing a county prosecutor to drop a felony charge against Brittany Watts, a woman who suffered a miscarriage in September, saying it's entirely in the attorney's power to stop a grand jury case—in which the odds are stacked against the defendant—from moving forward.
On Friday, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (OPRR) wrote to Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, a Democrat, to refute his claim that he is obligated to charge Watts with abuse of a corpse and to bring the case to a grand jury.
The group pointed out that nearly 100 elected prosecutors from across the U.S., including two in Ohio, said in a joint statement after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022 that "prosecutors are entrusted with immense discretion" when deciding to pursue criminal charges.
"Prosecutors make decisions every day about how to allocate limited resources and which cases to prosecute," said the June 2022 statement. "Indeed, our communities have entrusted us to use our best judgment in deciding how and if to leverage the criminal legal system to further the safety and well-being of all, and we are ethically bound to pursue those interests in every case."
With that in mind, said OPRR, Watkins is "under no legal obligation" to prosecute Watts.
"As has been widely publicized and as you well know, but choose to ignore, the principle of prosecutorial discretion is well established in both federal and Ohio law," the group's letter reads.
The case stems from a miscarriage Watts suffered at home in September, after she had experienced pain and passed blood clots at 22 weeks of pregnancy. Doctors at a local hospital told her the pregnancy was not viable despite some cardiac activity, but Watts was forced to wait several days for an ethics panel to determine whether the hospital could induce labor under Ohio law. The state currently permits abortion care until 22 weeks of pregnancy, but the state has claimed it can enforce a six-week ban that has been blocked by preliminary injunction.
Watts eventually had the miscarriage in her bathroom, and police got involved in the case after she told a nurse at the hospital that she had taken the tissue, fluid, and blood in her toilet and placed it in a bucket. The authorities investigated and found Watts' fetus, which weighed less than one pound, in a pipe connected to the toilet.
Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, told MSNBC on Wednesday night that prosecutors are punishing Watts for doctors' inability to make a decision about providing her with medical attention in the United States' post-Roe political climate.
"She should be treated with compassion, with dignity, with care, but because of this climate and environment we're in now," said Timmaraju, "this is the America that has been wrought."
The grand jury is investigating Watts' case and is expected to vote on whether to indict her in the coming weeks, unless Watkins drops the charge.
If the case proceeds, Watts could be called to testify before the grand jury, but she would not be granted legal representation and Watkins' office would not be required to present any information that could help the defendant's case. In Trumbull County, Watkins noted in a recent memo, grand juries decide against indicting defendants in only about 20% of cases.
Watts could face up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine if she is found guilty.
"Prosecuting people for miscarriage doesn't improve public health or safety," said If/When/How, a national network of reproductive rights lawyers, earlier this month. "Instead, it means locking someone up, separating families, and dire financial harm to them."
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