Charges Dropped Against Ohio Woman Who Miscarried In Toilet

The Ohio woman who was facing criminal charges after miscarrying at home will have the charges dropped.

The Ohio woman who was facing criminal charges after miscarrying at home on the toilet will have the charges dropped.

Brittany Watts, 34, made nationwide headlines after she was indicted on charges of abuse of a corpse following an at-home miscarriage. However, on Thursday, Jan. 11, the Trumbull County prosecutor’s office said the grand jury declined to return an indictment, the AP reports.

Watts’ case sparked a national debate after she was criminally charged after miscarrying into a toilet on Sept. 22. City prosecutors said she miscarried, flushed, and scooped out the toilet before leaving the house for a hair appointment and leaving the 22-week-old fetus lodged in the pipes.

Watts visited Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital twice in the days leading up to her miscarriage and was told by her doctor that she was carrying a nonviable fetus and would have to have her labor induced or risk “significant risk” of death.” Delays and complications caused Watts to leave the hospital each time without being treated, her attorney said.

Following the miscarriage, she tried to go to a hair appointment, but friends sent her to the hospital instead. A nurse called 911 to report a previously pregnant patient returned to the hospital and told them, “The baby’s in her backyard in a bucket.” The call led to an investigation and eventually criminal charges against Watts.

Her attorney told the judge that Watts has no criminal record and was being “demonized for something that goes on every day.” An autopsy determined the fetus died in utero and identified “no recent injuries.”

Warren Assistant Prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri told Municipal Court Judge Terry Ivanchak the issue wasn’t “how the child died, when the child died” but “the fact the baby was put into a toilet, was large enough to clog up the toilet, left in the toilet, and she went on (with) her day.”

The story sparked outrage and debates around state laws governing women’s reproductive healthcare access. The dropped charges were announced hours before a planned “We Stand With Brittany!” rally on Warren, Ohio’s Courthouse Square.