A mother from Ohio is now facing criminal charges for allegedly abusing the remains of her kid, even though she had an unplanned miscarriage. According to experts, the grand jury in Ohio is now debating whether to prosecute her based on an extraordinarily unusual reading of Ohio state law.
According to the Trumbull County Coroner's Office, 34-year-old Brittany Watts checked into St. Joseph Warren Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, on September 19, 2023, with vaginal bleeding. She was 21 weeks and five days along in her pregnancy.
Watts had a considerably high white blood cell count, which led doctors to conclude that her water burst too soon and that her cervix dilated. Doctors acknowledged the presence of heart activity, but they advised inducing the delivery of the baby regardless of its viability, citing the high danger of maternal mortality, infection, or "complete placental abruption with catastrophic bleeding" as the reasons.
While Watts was on the verge of Ohio's viability deadline of 22 weeks, she waited for an eight-hour hospital ethics panel to decide if it was permissible to induce her pregnancy. Ultimately, Watts left the hospital and went home to "process the information she was told." After experiencing the same symptoms the day after, Watts went back to the hospital but did not get treatment this time either.
Watts returned to the hospital for a third visit after sadly passing her baby alone in her toilet on September 22, 2023. The doctor performed a procedure to remove the placenta, known as a dilation and curettage (D & C). Upon learning of the miscarriage and "the need to locate the fetus," medical staff promptly notified the Warren City Police Department.
After an investigation, authorities in Ohio found the fetus stuck in the woman's toilet and accused her of abusing the baby's body as she tried to flush the remains down the drain. The woman had initially told authorities that she had disposed of the remains in a bucket in her backyard.
We took the whole toilet from the residence and brought it to the morgue. There, we smashed it open to extract the fetus. Premature membrane rupturing was one of the issues that led to the fetus's death in utero, according to the postmortem report.
The Ohio lady was charged with the crime of abuse of body on October 5, 2023, after her arrest. This statute was enacted by the Ohio Legislature in 1996. The Warren City Prosecutor's Office has been handling Watts' case since November, and a grand jury in Trumbull County has heard arguments in his case.
A representative for the prosecutor in Trumbull County, Guy Vogrin, said that the grand jury would now continue the case until the next session a few weeks from now, rather than delivering its findings on Wednesday (January 3). There is no explanation for the recent postponement of the grand jury hearing as the procedures are confidential.
A court approved a request for a preliminary injunction challenging the abortion laws on October 7, one month subsequent to Watts' arrest and criminal charges. This upheld the pre-ban state legislation, which allowed abortions up to 22 weeks of gestation. Also, women should be able to get healthcare for issues related to pregnancy loss, infertility, and contraception. Early December saw the measure's implementation.
Last month, Watts's attorney Traci Timko mentioned the legislation and her client's predicament before Warren Municipal Court Judge Terry Ivanchak, saying, "[Watts is being] demonized for something that goes on every day." Though he has since retired, Ivanchak did find probable cause and sent the case to a grand jury for review.
According to the Trumbull County Coroner's Office, 34-year-old Brittany Watts checked into St. Joseph Warren Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, on September 19, 2023, with vaginal bleeding. She was 21 weeks and five days along in her pregnancy.
Watts had a considerably high white blood cell count, which led doctors to conclude that her water burst too soon and that her cervix dilated. Doctors acknowledged the presence of heart activity, but they advised inducing the delivery of the baby regardless of its viability, citing the high danger of maternal mortality, infection, or "complete placental abruption with catastrophic bleeding" as the reasons.
While Watts was on the verge of Ohio's viability deadline of 22 weeks, she waited for an eight-hour hospital ethics panel to decide if it was permissible to induce her pregnancy. Ultimately, Watts left the hospital and went home to "process the information she was told." After experiencing the same symptoms the day after, Watts went back to the hospital but did not get treatment this time either.
Watts returned to the hospital for a third visit after sadly passing her baby alone in her toilet on September 22, 2023. The doctor performed a procedure to remove the placenta, known as a dilation and curettage (D & C). Upon learning of the miscarriage and "the need to locate the fetus," medical staff promptly notified the Warren City Police Department.
After an investigation, authorities in Ohio found the fetus stuck in the woman's toilet and accused her of abusing the baby's body as she tried to flush the remains down the drain. The woman had initially told authorities that she had disposed of the remains in a bucket in her backyard.
We took the whole toilet from the residence and brought it to the morgue. There, we smashed it open to extract the fetus. Premature membrane rupturing was one of the issues that led to the fetus's death in utero, according to the postmortem report.
The Ohio lady was charged with the crime of abuse of body on October 5, 2023, after her arrest. This statute was enacted by the Ohio Legislature in 1996. The Warren City Prosecutor's Office has been handling Watts' case since November, and a grand jury in Trumbull County has heard arguments in his case.
A representative for the prosecutor in Trumbull County, Guy Vogrin, said that the grand jury would now continue the case until the next session a few weeks from now, rather than delivering its findings on Wednesday (January 3). There is no explanation for the recent postponement of the grand jury hearing as the procedures are confidential.
A court approved a request for a preliminary injunction challenging the abortion laws on October 7, one month subsequent to Watts' arrest and criminal charges. This upheld the pre-ban state legislation, which allowed abortions up to 22 weeks of gestation. Also, women should be able to get healthcare for issues related to pregnancy loss, infertility, and contraception. Early December saw the measure's implementation.
Last month, Watts's attorney Traci Timko mentioned the legislation and her client's predicament before Warren Municipal Court Judge Terry Ivanchak, saying, "[Watts is being] demonized for something that goes on every day." Though he has since retired, Ivanchak did find probable cause and sent the case to a grand jury for review.
