Brittany Watts, the Ohio woman charged with a felony crime after suffering a miscarriage at 21 weeks, speaks out for the first time to tell her story and educate the public so her tragedy doesn’t repeat itself with anyone else. pic.twitter.com/VsVnGCIuMB
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) January 26, 2024
how women become, not radicalized, but simply awakened to their vulnerable status as second-class citizens in GOP states if their pregnancies go wrong. https://t.co/2tyjt6C1Gv
— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) January 27, 2024
I’m deeply annoyed that I ever had to know Brittany Watts’ name, and I’m sure she’s even less happy about that fact than I am. Her personal tragedy was weaponized by forced-birth advocates, with a major assist from bad laws (and, I suspect, local law enforcement that hoped for brownie points & turned tail when exposed). This was the best summary of Watts’ case that I’d seen before last weekend — from CNN, “Ohio woman who suffered miscarriage at home will not be criminally charged, grand jury says”:
An Ohio woman who suffered a miscarriage and left the nonviable fetus at home will not be criminally charged, a grand jury decided Thursday, dismissing a case that highlighted the extent to which women can be prosecuted when their pregnancy ends – whether by abortion or miscarriage.
The felony charge was filed by the Warren Police Department upon advice from the Warren City Prosecutor’s Office, according to a news release from Trumbull County Prosecuting Attorney Dennis Watkins. A municipal court then bound the case over to a Trumbull County grand jury, Watkins said. He noted his office “never assessed the evidence or advised as to charging” Watts.
Brittany Watts, 34, of Warren, was charged last year with felony abuse of a corpse, Trumbull County court records show. In the days before her September miscarriage, Watts went to a hospital with severe bleeding and was told her fetus was not viable, a coroner’s office report states. The hospital staff notified the Warren Police Department, which responded to Watts’ home, the coroner’s office report says.
On Thursday, that grand jury returned a “no bill” for the charge, concluding insufficient evidence for an indictment against Watts, according to the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office.
Watkins said his office did not believe Watts violated the law, adding, “We respectfully disagree with the lower court’s application of the law.” …
Repro Rights Are Human Rights: Brittany Watts Shouldn’t Have to Be This BravePost + Comments (86)