In a recent case that captured significant legal and public attention, a grand jury decided not to indict Brittany Watts, an Ohio woman who was facing an abuse of corpse charge following a miscarriage at her home. The Trumbull County prosecutor’s office asserted after investigating the case, they deemed that Watts did not infringe the Ohio Criminal Statute of Abuse of a Corpse, prompting the grand jury to reject the bill and hence, effectively dismissing the case.
Watts was initially accused of felony abuse of a corpse in October when Warren County police discovered the remnants of her miscarriage in her toilet and trash. The Oakwood, Ohio resident miscarried in her toilet in September, transferring some contents to the trash. Exacerbating the incident, Watts had been previously informed by her doctor that she was carrying a non-viable fetus and that she risked “significant risk” of death unless her labor was induced. However, her attorney, Traci Timko, indicated that Watts endured an eight-hour wait at the hospital for treatment as the hospital staff grappled with their course of action under Ohio’s abortion laws. Autopsy findings revealed that the fetus had died in utero with no discernable recent injuries.
This case draws attention to a broader societal issue. A 2021 study demonstrated that compared to white women, Black women face a 43 percent increased risk of miscarriage. Responding to Watts’ case, In Our Own Voice, an organization ensuring reproductive justice for Black women, released a statement lamenting how Black women are facing legal threats for merely existing.
The decision by the grand jury comes in the wake two months after Ohio electorate approved a constitutional amendment to secure reproductive rights, in the face of fluctuating abortion laws throughout the country. Upon the achievement of constitutional protection of reproductive rights, Watts’ case delineates the contested terrain of women’s rights in the wake of political and judicial scrutiny on abortion, thereby underlining the vulnerability of women across various states struggling with similar legal and healthcare predicaments.