Jan. 12 (UPI) — An Ohio grand jury has decided against indicting a Black woman who suffered a miscarriage with felony abuse of a corpse.
The Trumbull County prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the grand jury on Thursday decided not to charge 34-year-old Brittany Watts.
“Justice has been served,” Watts’ attorney Traci Timko said in a statement of Facebook. “While the last few months were agonizing for Brittany, the grand jury has spoken and she is vindicated!”
Watts was about 22 weeks pregnant when she suffered a miscarriage into the toilet of her bathroom on Sept. 22 after being told by her doctors that her pregnancy was not viable.
The woman then went to the hospital for assistance, and police were notified and launched an investigation, finding the remains of the pregnancy at her home. The case was sent to the grand jury for consideration in November.
Before a rally held at Warren’s Courthouse Square after the verdict was announced, Watts thanked the community for standing by her side.
“I want to thank my community, Warren. Warren, Ohio. I was born here. I was raised here. I graduated high school here. And I’m going to continue to stay here because I have to continue to fight,” she said.
Timko told the crowd that they have been adamant since the start that Ohio law did not support the charges brought against her client.
“I am incredibly grateful the grand jury today made that clear,” she said.
The law in question states, among other things, that “no person shall treat a human corpse in a way that would outrage reasonable community sensibilities.”
Timko recited this aspect of the law, and pointed to those assembled, stating they established that the government “can’t meet that element.”
“The only people who were outraged are those who don’t understand what miscarriage looks like,” she said.
The case against Watts sparked condemnation from local and national women’s rights organizations and came as Republican-led states have sought to restrict or outright ban abortion across the country, sometimes through criminal charges.
The GOP move against reproductive rights in the United States comes in the wake of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court removing federal protections for the medical practice with overturning the landmark 1973 Roe. vs. Wade ruling.
“What happened to Brittany Watts is a grave example of how Black women and their bodies face legal threats simply for existing,” In Our Voice President and CEO Regina Davis Moss said Thursday in a statement.
“Brittany’s painful story, which should have never even been made public, reveals what so many Black women have to contend with in the medical system. Abortion restrictions directly lead to inadequate reproductive health care, resulting in traumatic pregnancy and birth experiences.”
Ohio’s Physicians for Reproductive Rights also celebrated the ruling online.
“The grand jury’s decision is a firm step against the dangerous trend of criminalizing reproductive outcomes,” OPRR President Marcela Azevedo said in a statement.
“This practice must be unequivocally halted. It not only undermines women’s rights but also threatens public health by instilling fear and hesitation in women seeking necessary medical care during their most vulnerable moments.”