Brittany Watts, a 34-year-old woman from Warren, Ohio, has shared her harrowing experience publicly for the first time on CBS Mornings.
Watts’ interview with CBS National correspondent Jericka Duncan comes weeks after an Ohio jury decided not to indict her following a traumatic miscarriage.
Watts faced felony charges of “abuse of a corpse” after she miscarried at 22 weeks into her pregnancy in September 2023.
The charges stemmed from her attempt to flush the fetus, which led to a clogged toilet.
Watts recounted the events leading up to the miscarriage, emphasizing that she had sought medical attention after noticing complications.
“I noticed that I was leaking the fluid, and it was uncomfortable,” she said. “I didn’t know if I had used the bathroom on myself or what was going on.”
Her doctor informed her that the pregnancy was nonviable, and she was transferred to Mercy Health St. Joseph Warren Hospital. However, she faced a lack of communication and waited for hours without updates on her condition.
The situation escalated when doctors referred her case to the hospital’s Ethics Committee after she inquired about abortion, given the nonviable status of her pregnancy.
Ohio’s abortion restrictions made the procedure illegal after 22 weeks, reaching the “viability” stage.
Despite the approval of labor inductions by the committee, Watts experienced prolonged frustration and left the hospital.
Two days later, she suffered a miscarriage at home.
“I go to the bathroom. I sit down on the toilet,” she said. “I’m just doubled over. And that’s when I hear ‘splash.’ And then I look down. There’s blood. And I’m like, ‘Okay, I have to get cleaned up.’ All while thinking, ‘Wow, did that really just happen?’ But it really just happened. I’m really awake right now.”
The subsequent arrest by the Warren Police Department and charges of “abuse of a corpse” followed.
However, an investigation revealed no injuries on the fetus, and medical examiners determined that the baby had died before entering the birth canal.
Although the nurse who alerted police about the miscarriage alleged that Watts said she didn’t want the baby, she clarified what she really said:
“I said that I did not want to look. I never said I didn’t want my baby. I would have never said something like that. It just makes me angry that somebody would put those words in my mouth to make me seem so callous and so hateful.”
She disclosed that she is sharing her story publicly now because she doesn’t want other women to go through her unfortunate experience.
“I don’t want any other woman to go through what I had to go through”, adding feels motivated to fight for the law to be changed.
She added:
“I am ready to get to work making sure that the laws are changed and people are educated on what to do for something that happens all the time. And as the saying goes, history repeats itself; I don’t want that to happen.”
A study by WHO has revealed instances of mistreatment, including doctors shouting, scolding, threatening, or ignoring concerns, contributing to increased maternal deaths and near misses, particularly for women of color.
