Current:Home > MyReproductive rights group urges Ohio prosecutor to drop criminal charge against woman who miscarried-LoTradeCoin
Reproductive rights group urges Ohio prosecutor to drop criminal charge against woman who miscarried
View Date:2024-12-23 15:11:51
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The physicians’ group behind Ohio’s newly passed reproductive rights amendment is urging a prosecutor to drop criminal charges against a woman who miscarried in the restroom at her home.
Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, a nonpartisan coalition of 4,000 doctors and others, argues in a letter to Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins that the abuse-of-corpse charge against Brittany Watts, 33, conflicts “with the spirit and letter” of Issue 1.
The measure, which was approved in November with 57% of the vote, guarantees an individual’s “right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions.” It made Ohio the seventh-straight state to vote to protect reproductive rights since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the ruling that long legalized abortion nationally.
Watts’ case has touched off a national firestorm over the treatment of pregnant women, particularly those like Watts who are Black, in post-Roe America. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump elevated Watts’ plight in a post to X, formerly Twitter, and supporters have donated more than $135,000 through GoFundMe for her legal defense, medical bills and trauma counseling.
Watts miscarried at home Sept. 22, days after a doctor told her that her fetus had a heartbeat but was nonviable. She twice visited Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital in Warren and twice left before receiving care. Her attorney said she was left waiting for lengthy periods and felt anxious and judged.
A nurse called police when Watts returned that Friday, no longer pregnant and bleeding. “She says her baby’s in her backyard in a bucket,” the woman told a dispatcher. Police arrived at her home, where they found the toilet clogged and the 22-week-old fetus wedged in the pipes.
A city prosecutor told a municipal judge that Watts was wrong when she tried unsuccessfully to plunge the toilet, scooped the overflow into a bucket, set it outside by the trash and callously “went on (with) her day.”
Her attorney, Traci Timko, argued Watts is being “demonized for something that goes on every day.”
An autopsy found “no recent injuries” to the fetus, which had died in utero.
The statute under which Watts is charged prohibits treating “a human corpse” in a way that would “outrage” reasonable 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, wrote Watkins: “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 called it “an opportunity he should seize immediately.”
Beene said Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights fears the case will deter other women from seeking miscarriage care. The organization also shared its letter, dated Dec. 15, with the Warren mayor, law director and city council members, in hopes of building support for dropping charges against Watts.
Messages seeking comment were left with Watkins, the mayor and the law director. The prosecutor told the Tribune Chronicle of Warren that his office does not comment on pending grand jury cases.
veryGood! (632)
Related
- When does Spirit Christmas open? What to know about Spirit Halloween’s new holiday venture
- Theater festivals offer to give up their grants if DeSantis restores funding for Florida arts groups
- Tour de France standings, results: Biniam Girmay sprints to Stage 12 victory
- US wholesale inflation picked up in June in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Fire crews on both US coasts battle wildfires, 1 dead; Veterans Day ceremony postponed
- Colombian warlord linked to over 1,500 murders and disappearances released from prison
- Referendum set for South Dakota voters on controversial carbon dioxide pipeline law
- National safety regulator proposes new standards for vehicle seats as many say current rules put kids at risk
- Horoscopes Today, November 13, 2024
- The last Manhattanhenge of 2024 is here: NYC sunset spectacle to draw crowds this weekend
Ranking
- 2025 NFL Draft order: Updated first round picks after Week 10 games
- 2025 Social Security COLA estimate slips, keeping seniors under pressure
- When does 'Big Brother' start? 2024 premiere date, house, where to watch Season 26
- Weather service says Beryl’s remnants spawned 4 Indiana tornadoes, including an EF-3
- Appeals Court Affirms Conviction of Everglades Scientist Accused of Stealing ‘Trade Secrets’
- Summer House Star Paige DeSorbo Says This Deodorant Smells Like “Walking Into a Really Expensive Hotel”
- Remains of U.S. airman whose bomber was shot down in World War II identified 81 years later
- Senator calls out Big Tech’s new approach to poaching talent, products from smaller AI startups
Recommendation
-
LSU leads college football Week 11 Misery Index after College Football Playoff hopes go bust
-
2 buses carrying at least 60 people swept into a river by a landslide in Nepal. 3 survivors found
-
Arrest Made in Cold Case Murder of Teenager Elena Lasswell 20 Years Later
-
Travis Kelce Jokingly Dedicates Karaoke Award to Girlfriend Taylor Swift
-
Lost luggage? This new Apple feature will let you tell the airline exactly where it is.
-
Shania Twain to Host the 2024 People's Choice Country Awards
-
You Won't Believe How Many Crystals Adorn Team USA's Gymnastics Uniforms for 2024 Olympics
-
Nicolas Cage’s Son Weston Arrested for Assault With a Deadly Weapon