Justice for Brittany Watts

Brittany Watts suffered an agonizing miscarriage in the bathroom of her home in Warren, Ohio on September 22, 2023. As she was hemorrhaging and writhing in pain, she had no way of knowing that the miscarriage was only the beginning of her suffering. 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.

Brittany did nothing to cause her miscarriage. Her doctor had told her that her 21-week pregnancy could not survive, and she would miscarry. When the bleeding and the pain from the impending miscarriage got severe, she did the same thing that many women who miscarry at home do. Brittany went into her bathroom, miscarried into her toilet, and flushed. What happened after that is something that should only happen in Margaret Atwood's Gilead, and certainly not in the United States of America.

Within hours of Brittany's admission to the hospital for her life-threatening hemorrhaging, police removed the toilet from Brittany's home and destroyed it searching for fetal remains. Brittany, a woman with no criminal history, was charged with felony gross abuse of a corpse, even though there is no Ohio law dictating the "proper" disposal method of the remains of a miscarriage. On November 2, Brittany sobbed as she sat in a courtroom listening to police officers describe the details of the most intensely personal moments of her life and then vilify her to the world, all while being recorded by local news media.

What is happening to Brittany is truly terrifying. We must help Brittany as she endures and fights this injustice, and we must ensure that no woman will be victimized this way again. Those of us who support Brittany are asking you to please contribute to help her as she struggles with legal expenses, home repairs due to the destruction of her bathroom, medical bills, and expenses for trauma counseling. Any additional monies will be used to advocate for better laws, educate medical personnel and law enforcement about those laws, and increase awareness of issues surrounding pregnancy loss.