Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights is a nonpartisan coalition of 4,000 doctors. In a letter to Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, they argue that the abuse-of-corpse charge against Brittany Watts, 33, conflicts “with the spirit and letter” of Issue 1.
The Issue’s approval came in November with 57% of the vote. It guarantees an individual’s “right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions.”
It makes Ohio the seventh-straight state to support reproductive rights since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The famous ruling legalized abortion nationally.
Watts’ case has caused a national debate over the treatment of pregnant women, especially those like Watts, who are Black, in post-Roe America. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump shared Watts’ predicament in a post to X. Since then, supporters have put together a GoFundMe with over $135,000.
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The fees cover her legal defense, medical bills, and trauma counseling. Watts’ problems began when she miscarried at home on September 22, 2023, days after she was told that her fetus had a heartbeat but was nonviable.
She visited Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital two times and left both times before receiving care. According to her attorney, she had to wait long and felt anxious and judged.
A nurse reached out to the police when Watts returned that Friday, childless and bleeding. “She says her baby’s in her backyard in a bucket,” the woman told a dispatcher.
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When police arrived at her home, they found the toilet clogged with the 22-week-old fetus wedged in the pipes. A city prosecutor says that Watts is in the wrong for her actions. According to him, she unsuccessfully plunged the toilet, scooped the overflow into a bucket, then left it outside by the trash before “callously” going about her day.
Her attorney, Traci Timko, believes Watts is being “demonized for something that goes on every day.” An autopsy revealed “no recent injuries” to the fetus, which died in utero. Watts’ charge falls under a statute that prohibits treating “a human corpse” in a way that would “outrage” family or community sensibilities.
A violation is a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine. Dr. Lauren Beene, executive director of the physicians’ group, shared her opinion in a letter she sent to Watkins.
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“It was wrong for the nurse who was caring for Ms. Watts and hospital administrators to call the police, wrong for the police to invade Ms. Watts’ home while she was fighting for her life in the hospital, wrong for Warren assistant prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri to move that she be bound over to the Trumbull County grand jury, and wrong for Judge (Terry) Ivanchak to grant his motion. Prosecutor Watkins has the opportunity to be the first law enforcement official to do the right thing since this incident began.”
She says it is “an opportunity he should seize immediately.” Beene also says Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights fears the case will deter other women from seeking miscarriage care.
The organization also shared its letter with the Warren mayor, law director, and city council members. They hope to build support for dropping charges against Watts.
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