An Ohio woman who had sought treatment at a hospital before suffering a miscarriage and passing her nonviable fetus in her bathroom now faces a criminal charge, her attorney told CNN.

Brittany Watts, 33, of Warren, has been charged with felony abuse of a corpse, Trumbull County court records show.

“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,” her attorney, Traci Timko, told CNN in an email.

Though a coroner’s office report said the fetus was not viable and had died in the womb, Watts’ case highlights the extent to which prosecutors can charge a woman whose pregnancy has ended – whether by abortion or miscarriage.

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    She ignored medical advice. Walked away. TWICE. Were you OK with anti-vaxxers doing that because it was “their body their choice”?

    This woman was clearly traumatized by the whole thing, and acted foolishly because of said trauma. Nothing to condemn her for. And no one has.

    Again, this situation doesn’t seem to have anything to do with abortion laws. But you insist OP and I are condemning her to score your point.

    At some point do you say, “Sorry. I was emotional on this thing and misunderstood.”? Or you want to double-down and argue some more when we both fucking agree?

    • ZzyzxRoad@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      The last article I read about this said that doctors were taking days to figure out how to handle this legally because of abortion restrictions, even though they knew it was nonviable. I have personally AmA’d out of a hospital and gone to a different one for a different health situation because I didn’t trust the doctors, and it turned out to have been the exact right decision.

      Women are not taken seriously by doctors, and black women are really not taken seriously, nor respected as human beings, by doctors in the US. There’s a million variables to this situation that none of us know, and we shouldn’t act like we know. But sure , let’s just judge this woman for how she reacted to a fucking horror movie situation that should have never occurred in the first place, especially in a “free” country with all the necessary healthcare technology readily available.

      So why did this happen to her when she was at home, by herself? Because doctors were afraid of the legal repercussions of performing a medically necessary procedure. That’s all it comes down to. Not that hard.

      At this point, anyone blaming this woman or any other woman in a similar situation as if they brought something like this on themselves, is just a misogynist looking for an outlet for their hatred of women. We all know it, but someone’s got to say it.

    • Caradoc879@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I think we do still disagree if you’re still insisting she should have been forced tk have an abortion. It was her choice. The fuck don’t you people understand about that?

      And comparing a woman’s choice to have an abortion vs getting a vaccine is an incredibly flawed argument. Babies aren’t contagious. And no, I’d never hold someone down and force a vaccine. You seem to think someone should have forced this woman to terminate the baby.

      You are still vilifying her for making her own personal choice. Shame on you. Doesn’t matter if it was against medical advice or not.