NO INDICTMENT for Brittany Watts

Grand jury dismisses charges against Ohio woman arrested for miscarriage

It’s rare to be able to bring you good news, so I’m thrilled to tell you that a grand jury has declined to indict Brittany Watts, the Ohio woman charged with ‘abuse of a corpse’ for flushing her miscarriage.

Brittany’s lawyer, Traci Timko, told The New York Times that when Brittany heard the news, she began to cry:

“It’s just been an emotional roller coaster that she has been on. I’m happy Brittany is able to now begin to heal through all of this and I hope and believe that her story is going to be an impetus for change.”

A refresher: Brittany was 21 weeks pregnant when her water broke early, putting her health and life in danger. Still, the hospital where she sought help didn’t treat Brittany because of fears over Ohio’s abortion law, and because the hospital was religiously-affiliated. (If this sounds familiar, it’s because I literally just wrote about the danger of this exact combination a few hours ago!)

The Washington Post reported that doctors and hospital officials spent hours debating the “ethics” of giving her care. One doctor wrote, “My recommendation instead of waiting until mom is on death’s door before proceeding with treatment, [is] to deliver this baby.” Brittany ended up miscarrying at home into her toilet.

After Brittany went back to the hospital to get help for her bleeding, a nurse called 911 to claim there was a “baby…in a bucket” in Brittany’s backyard. Within a few hours, “police removed the toilet from Brittany’s home and destroyed it searching for fetal remains.”

Even though there is no Ohio law about how to dispose of a miscarriage—and even though Brittany had been through a medical trauma in which she was denied care—the Warren County prosecutor decided to bring ‘abuse of a corpse’ charges over the miscarriage. Timko told Abortion, Every Day at the time that Brittany was being “demonized for a common experience many women share.”

As Adam Serwer says, the cruelty is the point.

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For more on criminalization, check out Abortion, Every Day’s 2023 overview:

The Year in Abortion: Criminalization

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Brittany’s case epitomizes everything we know about the criminalization of pregnancy outcomes: Women charged are often turned in by healthcare providers; Brittany was turned in by a nurse. Prosecutors will often bring charges that are seemingly unrelated to abortion and miscarriage in order escape criticism; in this case, Warren County charged Brittany with ‘abuse of a corpse’. And, of course, Brittany is Black; women of color are disproportionately targeted over their pregnancy outcomes.

The media coverage, too, followed a predictable pattern. Local media outlets demonized Brittany, first reporting that the fetus was so “big” that her toilet had to be removed by plumbers. The truth was that police tore apart Brittany’s bathroom looking for the fetal remains. The media coverage was made to be as sensationalist as possible—and to make Brittany look callous and cruel.

The prosecutor’s office tried to do the same, arguing that the fetus “was large enough to clog up a toilet, left in that toilet and she went on [with] her day.” He was offended that Brittany didn’t seem sufficiently traumatized. From Timko, Brittany’s lawyer:

“I just want to know what [the prosecutor] thinks she should have done. If we are going to require people to collect and bring used menstrual products to hospitals so that they can make sure it is indeed a miscarriage, it’s as ridiculous and invasive as it is cruel.”

If Brittany was convicted, she would have faced a year in prison.

While we’re all relieved that this case is over, the charges being dismissed doesn’t mean that Brittany can just get back to her life as it was. Timko told the New York Times, “She is known across the country. Three months ago, her circle was her mom, her church and the people she worked with. It’s quite the upheaval.”

And Yveka Pierra, Senior Litigation Counsel at If/When/How, says, “This decision does not erase the harm that Brittany had experienced as the result of this case.” Pierra says that Brittany “should have been able to process, and grieve with her family and community. Instead, she was arrested and charged with a felony.”

It’s clear that this woman’s life is going to be forever changed. And for what—because a prosecutor didn’t like that she flushed her miscarriage? Because male legislators and law enforcement don’t understand how pregnancy work? Because the state is desperate to punish Black women?

There’s no undoing what Ohio did to Brittany Watts. I just hope she is able to get some semblance of normalcy back, and that she’s able to heal from all of this compounding trauma.

To support Brittany, you can donate to her GoFundMe and leave a message of support.

For legal help, call If/When/How’s Repro Helpline: 844-868-2812

For medical advice, contact the Miscarriage & Abortion Hotline: 833-246-2632