193
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

Ohio was in the throes of a bitter debate over abortion rights this fall when Brittany Watts, 21 weeks and 5 days pregnant, began passing thick blood clots.

The 33-year-old Watts, who had not shared the news of her pregnancy even with her family, made her first prenatal visit to a doctor’s office behind Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital in Warren, a working-class city about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland.

The doctor said that, while a fetal heartbeat was still present, Watts’ water had broken prematurely and the fetus she was carrying would not survive. He advised heading to the hospital to have her labor induced, so she could have what amounted to an abortion to deliver the nonviable fetus. Otherwise, she would face “significant risk” of death, according to records of her case.

That was a Tuesday in September. What followed was a harrowing three days entailing: multiple trips to the hospital; Watts miscarrying into, and then flushing and plunging, a toilet at her home; a police investigation of those actions; and Watts, who is Black, being charged with abuse of a corpse. That’s a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.

top 9 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Breezy@lemmy.world -5 points 10 months ago

So i am not aware of the legality of it, but are you just supposed to flush an aborted fetus? A year of jail time seems pretty bad, but so does dumping a dead baby in your toilet.

[-] Whoresradish@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I believe it was a miscarriage which could accidently happen in the toilet much like the "toliet baby" stories

this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2023
193 points (98.0% liked)

Health - Resources and discussion for everything health-related

2290 readers
99 users here now

Health: physical and mental, individual and public.

Discussions, issues, resources, news, everything.

See the pinned post for a long list of other communities dedicated to health or specific diagnoses. The list is continuously updated.

Nothing here shall be taken as medical or any other kind of professional advice.

Commercial advertising is considered spam and not allowed. If you're not sure, contact mods to ask beforehand.

Linked videos without original description context by OP to initiate healthy, constructive discussions will be removed.

Regular rules of lemmy.world apply. Be civil.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS