2023-12-24 15:40:21
Prosecuted for having had a miscarriage. Brittany Watts, a 33-year-old American woman, has been facing legal action in her home state of Ohio since September after she suffered a miscarriage of a fetus that was not viable.
The events occurred on September 22, reports the agency Associated Press. Brittany Watts had just learned a few days earlier from her doctor that the fetus she was carrying was not viable, despite a heartbeat. The 30-year-old had to return to Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s of Warren, Ohio, before being taken into care.
The fetus seized in the pipes by the police
The nurse who cared for her then called the police when the patient showed up bleeding, no longer pregnant and saying her “fetus was in a bucket in her backyard.” Police went to her home, where they found the toilet clogged and the 22-week-old fetus (6th month of pregnancy) stuck in the pipes. The authorities then seized the toilet bowl and extracted the fetus, specifies the AP agency.
Brittany Watts was charged with “harming a corpse,” an offense punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of $2,500 (around 2,250 euros). A jackpot launched for the young woman has now raised more than 180,000 euros, and her lawyer is responsible for ensuring that the money is not misappropriated.
The prosecutor does not consider himself able to drop the charges
If the case now extends beyond the borders of Ohio, it is because Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said in a statement released late Tuesday that he was required to present to the justice accused him for the alleged acts. The case had already caused a stir nationally and Dennis Watkins had been ordered by associations to drop the charges against Brittany Watts.
In his statement, he said that “county prosecutors are required to follow Ohio law” and that it would be up to a popular jury to determine whether or not the defendant should be tried for the molestation charges. the integrity of a corpse. Brittany Watts has pleaded not guilty. Her lawyer argued in court that she was “demonized for something that happens every day.” The autopsy revealed “no recent injuries” to the fetus, which had died in utero.
The treatment of women pregnant with non-viable fetuses, or whose pregnancy presents risks to their health, is at the heart of the concerns of American associations fighting for the right to abortion. This has been threatened throughout the country since the Supreme Court decision in June 2022 which ended federal protection for abortion. Each American state has since been authorized to legislate as it sees fit, which considerably complicates women’s access to abortions.
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