Ohio grand jury to decide whether to charge woman who miscarried for ‘abuse of a corpse’

The Republican legislature tried to ban nearly all abortion in Ohio, but voters approved a constitutional amendment in November to allow the procedure until fetal viability. Photograph: Megan Jelinger/AFP/Getty Images

A grand jury is set to decide whether an Ohio woman who miscarried a nonviable fetus should face criminal consequences.

Brittany Watts, who was reportedly turned into the police after her September miscarriage, has been charged with the fifth-degree felony of “abuse of a corpse” in Trumbull county, Ohio. Her case has been held up as evidence of how easily pregnant people can find themselves in law enforcement’s crosshairs – especially since the overturning of Roe v Wade and amid tightening abortion restrictions in the US.