Ohio Woman Is Charged With Abusing A Corpse After Having A Miscarriage, Sparking Debate About Abortion Laws

Brittany Watts, 33, has been charged with the felony abuse of a corpse after having a miscarriage.

After seeking medical treatment from a local hospital, Watts was diagnosed with premature rupture of membranes and severe oligohydramnios. At the time of the first admission, there was still a viable heartbeat, but the survival of the baby was unlikely.

At the time of this visit, Watts was 21 weeks and five days gestation. In the state of Ohio, abortion laws allow the termination of a pregnancy up until the point of fetal viability, which generally occurs from 22 to 24 weeks of gestation.

Doctors had offered medical advice on the termination of the pregnancy while still possible at the 21-week stage, however, Watts checked herself out of the hospital and ignored the medical advice.

She returned the following day and ignored the medical suggestion once more.

She then went back to the hospital several days later expecting to be induced to deliver the premature fetus, but the doctors at the hospital were not sure how to handle the situation, and Watts eventually left the hospital for the third time.

Watts returned to her home. While in her own bathroom in the morning, she passed the fetus which had previously died in the womb. She then returned to the hospital with the placenta and informed medical professionals that she had delivered the baby in the toilet in her home. Upon her arrival, the hospital staff notified the police.

Doctors confirmed that the fetus was already dead before its arrival and was thus pronounced as a stillbirth. The cause of death was the lack of amniotic fluid due to the premature rupture of membranes.

Watts was then questioned by the authorities, and she stated that the remains had been placed in a bucket and put the bucket in her back yard, however there was no body to be found.

When police arrived on the scene, they found what remained of the fetus clogged within the pipes of the toilet. The toilet was filled with blood and tissue and had to be broken apart in order to retrieve the body.

Because of the treatment of the fetus post-delivery, Watts is now facing a criminal charge.

Ohio laws concerning the abuse of a corpse state that “No person, except as authorized by law, shall treat a human corpse in a way that would outrage reasonable family sensibilities.”

Ohio voters recently voted overwhelmingly to legalize abortion in Ohio.