Brittany Watts, 33, was charged after police searched her toilet following her miscarriage in September.

A Black woman in Ohio has been charged with a felony for abuse of a corpse after she miscarried into her toilet, according to a criminal complaint, and reproductive rights experts are warning that it could set a dangerous precedent if she is convicted.

The attorney for Brittany Watts and a campaign organized on her behalf called the charges against her unjust, saying they feared the case could open the door to similar prosecutions and lawsuits over miscarriages nationwide.

Just hours after Watts, 33, was admitted to a hospital for a life-threatening hemorrhage after she miscarried in her bathroom Sep. 22, police removed her toilet from her home and searched it for fetal remains, according to a GoFundMe set up to fund her legal expenses and home repairs.

“Ms. Watts suffered a tragic and dangerous miscarriage that jeopardized her own life. Rather than focusing on healing physically and emotionally, she was arrested and charged with a felony and is fighting for her freedom and reputation,” her attorney, Traci Timko, said in a statement.

  • Birdie@thelemmy.club
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    1 year ago

    That’s what it took to get to the fetus and remove it. And they’re blaming her for not doing it. There she was with a partially retained placenta, in danger of bleeding out, and she had the nerve to leave her toilet intact in order to obtain timely life saving health care.

    And don’t forget, she’d been to the hospital multiple times and left because she wasn’t receiving care…all hospital caregivers and ‘legal teams’ were too busy trying to figure out if they could legally remove a dead fetus; they wouldn’t do what needed to be done. Just left her sitting there while they argued intent of the law versus letter of the law.

    “She put the fetus into the toilet.” No, she didn’t. The fetus was expelled into the toilet, along with bodily waste. She tried to get everything out, but she couldn’t.

    “She then went about her day.” No, she didn’t. She went to the hospital. She was bleeding (probably heavily) due to part of the placenta being left attached.

    That’s just two of the twisted statements the prosecutor has made in order to make this woman look like a heartless SOB.

    It’s gone too far, and short of removing Republicans from office and justices from the court, I don’t know what we can do. They are prosecuting this woman to punish her for miscarrying in an inconvenient place.

    It’s worth mentioning that just 11 days earlier, had her miscarriage happened at the hospital, it would have been disposed of as medical waste…incinerated. 11 freaking days, and the state is criminalizing her.

    • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      If there is a God…

      Firstly he’s a piece of shit for creating this universe the way it is

      Secondly he’s a piece of shit of allowing all this to happen

      Thirdly, he, in all his emptiness and nothingness, deserves all the aholes that firmly believe that they should live in eternity with him.

      • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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        If God is omnipotent, omniscient and wholly good, whence evil? If God wills to prevent evil but cannot, then He is not omnipotent. If He can prevent evil but does not, then he is not good. In either case he is not God.
        -David Hume

        If God is unable to prevent evil, then he is not all-powerful.
        If God is not willing to prevent evil, then he is not all-good.
        If God is both willing and able to prevent evil, then why does evil exist?
        -Epicurus

      • im sorry i broke the code@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I like to think that neo-plato stuff is very neat. “God” is essentially good cause he creates and expands, but he doesn’t have a conscientious nor a great design, so in a way God doesn’t really exist as an entity but its existence itself. Evil in this isn’t a force on its own, it’s merely the failing of a non perfect conscious being (humanity)

        Which is neat and makes ton of sense imo

    • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This is one of the many reasons that I hate people: “10 days and you’re fine, 12 days and you’re a murderer”. People that follow the law to the number are a scourge on humanity.