Brittany Watts, a 34-year-old Ohio woman, has filed a federal lawsuit against a hospital, its medical staff, and local police, alleging that a series of negligent and conspiratorial actions turned her pregnancy loss into a criminal case. The lawsuit, filed on January 10, claims Watts was denied urgent medical care for a pregnancy complication, which led to a traumatic miscarriage. She also accuses the defendants of fabricating evidence and falsely implicating her in a crime.
In September 2023, Watts sought care at St. Joseph Warren Hospital, 21 weeks pregnant and experiencing severe bleeding. Despite being diagnosed with a placental abruption, a life-threatening condition, she was left untreated for hours while the hospital’s ethics board deliberated. When she returned the next day, her condition had worsened, leading to a miscarriage at home. Watts alleges that during her third visit to the hospital, a nurse falsely reported her to police, claiming she had committed a crime by flushing the fetus.
The lawsuit accuses hospital staff and Warren police of conspiring to arrest Watts based on fabricated evidence. While she lay in a hospital bed, nurses and a detective interrogated her for over an hour, allegedly twisting her words to suggest criminal intent. Police later removed the toilet from her home, where the fetus had become lodged, and used it as evidence. The charges, which included felony abuse of a corpse, were later dropped by a grand jury in January 2024.
The case has drawn national attention, highlighting the impact of restrictive abortion laws and the uncertainty faced by healthcare providers after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Watts attended President Biden’s State of the Union address as a guest of Rep. Joyce Beatty, vowing to advocate for systemic change. Her lawsuit claims violations of federal and state laws, including false arrest, malicious prosecution, and failure to stabilize a medical emergency.
Watts seeks damages against the hospital, its owner Bon Secours Mercy Health, and others involved, asserting that their actions caused her severe physical and emotional harm. “Any system that would turn away a pregnant woman in crisis, and then attempt to punish her for managing her traumatic condition alone, is irretrievably broken,” said her attorney Renee Spence. St. Joseph Warren Hospital has declined to comment, citing patient privacy.
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