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An Ohio woman faces felony charges related to abuse of a corpse after suffering a miscarriage at home and attempting to flush the fetus down the toilet.
Brittany Watts, 33, had a miscarriage in the bathroom of her Warren home during the third week of September. It was her first pregnancy.
Earlier that week, she was admitted twice to Mercy Health St. Joseph Warren Hospital when she experienced agonizing cramps and bleeding.
However, he left both times after waiting hours to see a doctor.
“I was distraught, heartbroken, empty, literally and figuratively,” Watts said. WCMH-TV. She did not tell anyone in her family about the pregnancy.
Brittany Watts, 33, was charged with felony abuse of a corpse after suffering a miscarriage at her home in Warren, Ohio.
After attempting to flush the fetus down the toilet, Watts was taken to the hospital, where a nurse called 911, claiming Watts said she didn’t want the baby.
Watts was just over 22 weeks pregnant when she had the abortion. It was her first pregnancy
After the miscarriage, which she suffered at just over 22 weeks of pregnancy, Watts flushed the toilet.
When the toilet overflowed, he used a bucket to clean it up. Since he didn’t want anyone to know about the pregnancy, Watts went to the salon for a hair appointment.
But the hairdresser got worried and called her mother. Watts was taken to the hospital, where a nurse called 911.
According to transcripts, the nurse told an operator that Watts was sent to the hospital earlier that week with bleeding and was left “against medical advice.”
“She came back on Wednesday still bleeding and said, ‘Maybe I need to be seen.’ So we readmitted her and talked to her about everything and she disappeared,” the nurse continued.
She said Watts admitted to placing the fetus in a bucket and taking it outside her home, and also saying he didn’t want the baby.
However, Warren police found that the fetus was still lodged in the toilet. Watts was subsequently arrested and charged with gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony.
According to attorney Traci Timko, who previously served as the city’s deputy legal director, Watts was told the fetus was not viable.
Watts appeared in court on November 2. Her attorney, Traci Timko, says the fetus was not viable and a forensic pathologist confirmed she died before passing through the birth canal.
In the 911 call, the nurse told dispatchers that Watts had been admitted to the hospital earlier that week and had left “against medical advice.”
“It’s a lot of pain, it’s a lot of emotion and she was terrified,” Timko said of his client. “There were so many things going on that she was trying to handle at the same time.”
Watts said she felt “angry, scared, betrayed, confused and nervous” when she was arrested.
“Every negative emotion you can conjure up in the English language, I felt it,” he continued.
A preliminary hearing was held Nov. 2 in Warren Municipal Court.
When Detective Nick Carney took the stand, he said Watts “said he felt the baby come out and there was a big splash.”
No injuries were found on the fetus, according to a forensic pathologist, who testified that it died before passing through the birth canal.
The judge found probable cause to send the case to the Trumbull County Grand Jury for review.
Last week, Prosecutor Dennis Watkins released a memo saying his office has a “duty” to follow Ohio law.
Under Ohio law, a person must treat a dead body “in a manner that outrages reasonable community sensitivities” to qualify for the felony charge.
Ohio Senate Bill 27 makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for fetal remains to be disposed of by any means other than cremation or burial. However, this law typically applies to healthcare settings such as abortion clinics.
State law contains provisions for the misdemeanor crime of abuse of a corpse and the felony of gross abuse of a corpse.
To qualify for the felony charge, a person must “treat a human corpse in a manner that outrages reasonable community sensitivities.”
Timko believes his client will be acquitted. “Ohio law is on our side,” he said.
Friends of Watts created a GoFundMe to help cover her legal fees, writing, “We must support Brittany as she endures and fights against this injustice, and we must ensure that no woman is ever victimized in this way again.”
The campaign has already raised more than $200,000, more than double its goal.
Ohio Senate Bill 27 makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for fetal remains to be disposed of by any means other than cremation or burial.
But this law typically applies to health care settings like abortion clinics and not private residences.
The bill has proven controversial, and in February 2022, a federal judge blocked the law from being implemented after determining that it violated clinics’ and patients’ rights to due process and equal protection.
A year earlier, the law was prevented from taking effect when the Ohio Department of Health failed to provide the necessary documents.
Law enforcement is on hold pending a final ruling on the case.