Ohio woman charged with abuse of a corpse after miscarriage. What to know about the case

An Ohio woman who had a miscarriage and passed her nonviable fetus in her bathroom now faces criminal charges.

Brittany Watts has been charged with felony abuse of a corpse, according to Trumbull County court records. With the fifth-degree felony, she faces a a $2,500 fine and up to a year in prison.

The 33-year-old from Warren, Ohio had not yet shared news of her pregnancy when she made her first prenatal visit, during which doctors told her the fetus would not survive. The doctors advised her to receive labor-inducing procedures and deliver the nonviable fetus to prevent a "significant risk" or death, court records showed.

The case, which is pending before the Trumbull County grand jury, highlights the need for adequate education on the fetal personhood debate, Watts' attorney, Traci Timko, told CNN.

"Ms. Watts suffered a tragic and dangerous miscarriage that jeopardized her own life. Rather than focusing on healing physically and emotionally, she was arrested and charged with a felony,” Timko said in an email to CNN. "I believe that this charge stems from the lack of knowledge and/or insight that men have regarding the realities of miscarriage and women’s health in general."

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Watts visited hospital three times the week of the miscarriage

Watts went to a hospital three times in four days due to vaginal bleeding, according to a report from the Trumbull County Coroner’s Office obtained by CNN.

She was first admitted on Sept. 19 at St. Joseph’s Hospital just 21 weeks and 5 days into her pregnancy. She was diagnosed with "premature rupture of membranes and severe oligohydramnios," meaning she had exceptionally low amniotic fluid after her water broke prematurely.

"Although a fetal heartbeat was found, it was recommended by medical staff that an induction occur of the nonviable fetus," the coroner’s office report said, according to CNN.

Abortions are legal in Ohio until fetal viability, around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy. After viability, the state can legally restrict the procedure unless the pregnancy puts the patient’s life or health at risk.

Coroner’s report said Watts placed remains near garage

The coroner's office showed that hospital staff notified the Warren Police Department, which responded to Watts' home, according to CNN. A spokesperson for the Merch Health system that encompasses the St. Josephs Hospital in Warren said they could not explain why police were notified.

Officers discovered a toilet in home was filled with blood, blood clots, water and tissue, CNN reported. The coroner’s investigator found what felt like a "small foot with toes." The fetus was later retrieved after investigators broke apart the toilet.

"Brittany stated to police that she had taken the fetus out of the toilet and placed in it a black bucket. She then told police that she put the remains near the garage in the backyard," the coroner’s office report said. "Near the side of the garage, next to a large trash can, there was a pile of tissue, blood and what appeared to be paper towels in the weeds."

An autopsy found the cause of death to be intrauterine fetal demise, meaning that the fetus died inside the womb because of severely low amniotic fluid.

"The issue isn’t how the child died, when the child died. It’s the fact that the baby was put into a toilet, large enough to clog up the toilet, left in that toilet, and she went on her day," prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri said at last month's preliminary hearing, according to footage from local station WKBN-TV.

Physicians’ group urges prosecutor to drop criminal charge

Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, the nonpartisan group behind the state's newly passed reproductive rights amendment, is urging Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins to drop the charge against Watts.

The group said the charge conflicts "with the spirit and letter" of Issue 1, which passed last month, guaranteeing an individual’s "right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions" and making Ohio the seventh state to protect reproductive rights since the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

"It was wrong for the nurse who was caring for Ms. Watts and hospital administrators to call the police, wrong for the police to invade Ms. Watts’ home while she was fighting for her life in the hospital, wrong for Warren assistant prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri to move that she be bound over to the Trumbull County grand jury, and wrong for Judge (Terry) Ivanchak to grant his motion," the group's executive director, Lauren Beene, wrote to Watkins. "Prosecutor Watkins has the opportunity to be the first law enforcement official to do the right thing since this incident began."

GoFundMe page raises over $180,000

A GoFundMe page dedicated to Watts has received about $140,000 as of Friday. The page said funds will be allocated to Watts' legal expenses, home repairs, medical bills, and trauma counseling.

"She could not have possibly imagined that the most private situation of her life – the same private situation that thousands of women in this country experience every year – would leave her demonized and fighting for her freedom," the page reads. "We must help Brittany as she endures and fights this injustice, and we must ensure that no woman will be victimized this way again."

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ohio woman Brittany Watts charged for handling of miscarriage