How Does This Brittany Watts Story Keep Getting Worse?
How Does This Brittany Watts Story Keep Getting Worse?
Watts came close to being charged with 'abuse of a corpse' for having a miscarriage in Ohio.
In an interview with the “Today” show’s Jericka Duncan, Brittany Watts, the Ohio woman who came disturbingly close to being charged with “abuse of a corpse” for having a miscarriage, shared further details on her ordeal and what she was put through by the hospital that was supposed to be caring for her.
Now, we already know she went to Mercy Health-St. Joseph’s Hospital on two other occasions before her water broke and that she was turned in by one of the nurse’s there. That was bad enough, but the whole story is even worse than that.
The first time she went to the hospital, it was because her water broke. She was told, by the doctors there that the pregnancy was not viable, that the child would not survive.
Then, it turns out that the second time she went to the hospital — when she assumed, given that her doctor had told her it was a nonviable pregnancy, that she would have an induction — she was there for 11 hours. Eleven hours! And during this time, they referred Watts’ case to the hospital’s ethics committee … because she reportedly said the word abortion. Which, to be clear, is what an induction is when it is a 21-week nonviable pregnancy.
They wrote:
Extensive conversation with [REDACTED] re: staff concerns about Brittany's verbalization to staff that she wishes to terminate the pregnancy and continues to mention she feels that she is getting or consenting to an abortion. To clarify, ethics supports induction of this patient if it it the professional judgement of the physicians that Brittany is at high risk of bleeding and or serious infection that could lead to death. To be clear with Brittany, if induction occurs, there should be a well documented conversation with her (informed consent) that the procedure is only to prevent harm to her, and is not intended to terminate a potentially viable pregnancy. I would recommend good communication and documentation from any and all providers and caregivers on the intent of the treatment/plan of care so there are no misunderstandings about induction. Also recommend clear and supportive communication with all members of the care team to ensure plan of care is well understood.
Again, the doctors at that very hospital already told her that it was a nonviable pregnancy. What did they want to happen? Did they want her to just keep carrying a nonviable fetus until something bad actually did happen to her?
Watts was 21 weeks pregnant. Ohio, at that point, allowed abortion up until 22 weeks — so if Watts hadn’t gone to a Catholic hospital, she very well could have had an “abortion.” An abortion that would have saved a lot of people a lot of trauma.
The fact is, they are the ones who put Watts in the situation she ended up in, because if they had just done the induction in the first place, she never would have miscarried at home, alone, into a toilet, putting her health at risk. What did they think was going to happen?
To make matters worse, Watts says that the very nurse who comforted her as she was freaking out and told her “everything was going to be okay” not only turned her in to the police, but also straight up lied to them about what Watts said to her.
Watts told the nurse that she didn’t look — likely because she was scared and traumatized and didn’t want that image burned on her retinas forever, but the nurse told the police that Watts said she didn’t look because “she didn’t want the baby,”
But there was no baby to want. There was not a chance in the world that Watts was going to look at that toilet and find a living baby, but the nurse clearly presented it to police as if there were such a chance that this is what occurred. She was only 21 weeks pregnant and had already been told, by doctors at that very hospital, that the fetus was not viable.
The nurse purposely portrayed a grieving woman who had just miscarried as a callous, uncaring Medea — to what end, we shall never know. Watts believes that she was targeted because of her skin color, and that is very likely true as well.
This never should have happened to Watts. It never should have happened because she should have been induced as soon as they knew the pregnancy was not viable. It never should have happened because a woman who has a miscarriage should not be charged with a crime one assumes is traditionally committed by necrophiliacs. It never should have happened because that damn nurse should have minded her own business.
Watts says that she is now going to dedicate herself to making sure no one else ever has to go through what she went through — as much as that shouldn’t be something that anyone should have to fight for to begin with.
PREVIOUSLY:
I was there 1972-1976, as you've probably guessed.
There was an odd little grocery store store on that block of Dryden Road. An elderly Italian or Greek lady in widow's blacks sat there all day, and didn't seem to mind at all that there was almost no inventory and close to no sales. Could she have been a member of the Petrillose clan?
About 25 years ago, I drove alone to Chicago to visit my ailing father, and thought it would be fun to stop for the night in Ithaca. Collegetown seemed so disappointing, just a chilly, vapid, pricey resort for dumbass rich kids. It's like Harvard Square here – so vibrant and creative and available to all 50 years ago, and now it's just another mall anchored by a Nordstrom's. Not literally, yet.
I'm pretty sure it's just my nostalgia talking, but I do think quite a few Cornell students of my era loved Ithaca for all the right reasons. That's certainly more of a compliment to Ithaca than it is to us.
The Archdiocese of Boston decided to get out of the hospital business 15-20 years ago, likely because they had so many abuse-related claims to deal with.
The next incarnation, Caritas Christi Health Care, did a deadly dance with blood-sucking private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which converted it to a for-profit company called Steward Health Care System.
Maximum profits extracted and luxury yachts acquired, Cerberus legged it out of town. The results are absolutely horrifying.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/25/business/steward-health-care-mother-death