Current:Home > MyCongressional Democrats tell Biden to do more on abortion after Ohio woman's arrest -Wealth Momentum Network
Congressional Democrats tell Biden to do more on abortion after Ohio woman's arrest
View
Date:2025-04-14 00:59:00
Democratic members of Congress are urging the Biden administration to do more to protect pregnant patients seeking medical treatment from criminal prosecution - a threat they say has intensified in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning decades of abortion-rights precedent.
The new letter, spearheaded by the Democratic Women's Caucus, references the case of Brittany Watts, an Ohio woman who faced felony charges after suffering a miscarriage last year.
Hospital officials called police after Watts came in seeking treatment for her pregnancy loss. Watts was investigated and initially charged with abuse of a corpse under state law. The letter notes that a grand jury ultimately declined to move forward with the case, but says "irreparable harm has already been done and we must ensure this never happens to anyone again."
The letter, signed by more than 150 members of Congress, calls on the Biden administration to use federal resources to investigate such cases, and to provide legal and financial support to patients facing the threat of criminal prosecution because of pregnancy outcomes. It also urges Biden administration officials including Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to investigate situations in which healthcare officials may have breached the privacy of pregnant patients.
Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, the DWC's White House liaison, said she was disturbed to see healthcare workers involved in reporting Watts.
"You don't get to pick up the phone, violate a person's HIPAA rights, and then say to this person, 'I'm consoling you with one hand and calling the police to have a person arrested on the other hand,'" Beatty said in an interview with NPR.
The letter describes Watts' experience as "all too common for Black women, who disproportionately experience adverse pregnancy outcomes due to inadequate health care, and disproportionately experience disrespect, abuse, and punitive responses when they seek pregnancy-related care."
In November, Ohio voters approved an amendment protecting abortion rights in the state's constitution. That vote came after a near-total abortion ban took effect in 2022 in response to the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health decision.
In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, Biden has faced calls from some leading Democrats to do more to protect abortion rights.
The administration has taken several steps, including telling healthcare providers that they must intervene to help pregnant women facing life-threatening complications under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA. The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a challenge to that interpretation from the state of Idaho.
Farah Diaz-Tello, senior counsel with the reproductive rights legal group If/When/How, which has endorsed the letter, said a groundswell of public support for Watts was crucial in prompting the grand jury not to move forward with that case.
"Placing external pressure on those systems and calling for investigations of these types of prosecutions actually can have a material impact in stopping them," she said. "These things are going to persist as long as people aren't paying attention. So having the administration's attention on that, I think, can really make a difference."
veryGood! (7794)
Related
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Russian opposition leader Navalny fails to appear in court as allies search for him in prison system
- Mark Meadows' bid to move election interference charges to federal court met with skepticism by three-judge panel
- NFL Week 16 schedule: What to know about betting odds, early lines
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Everything to Know About Brad Pitt's Romantic History Before Girlfriend Ines de Ramon
- After School Satan Clubs and pagan statues have popped up across US. What's going on?
- Whitney Cummings Gives Birth to Her First Baby
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Pakistan is stunned as party of imprisoned ex-PM Khan uses AI to replicate his voice for a speech
Ranking
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Storm drenches Florida before heading up East Coast
- New details emerge about Alex Batty, U.K. teen found in France after vanishing 6 years ago: I want to come home
- Kishida says Japan is ready to lead Asia in achieving decarbonization and energy security
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- $15M settlement reached with families of 3 killed in Michigan State shooting
- Uncomfortable Conversations: How to handle grandparents who spoil kids with holiday gifts.
- Eagles replacing defensive coordinator Sean Desai with Matt Patricia − but not officially
Recommendation
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
Quaker Oats recalls some of its granola bars, cereals for possible salmonella risk
European Union investigating Musk’s X over possible breaches of social media law
36 jours en mer : récit des naufragés qui ont survécu aux hallucinations, à la soif et au désespoir
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
Judge overturns Mississippi death penalty case, says racial bias in picking jury wasn’t fully argued
Shopping for the Holidays Is Expensive—Who Said That? Porsha Williams Shares Her Affordable Style Guide
Are the Sinaloa Cartel's 'Chapitos' really getting out of the fentanyl business?