WARREN — Three weeks after a criminal charge was dropped against a Warren woman following her miscarriage, members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) have written a letter calling on the Biden-Harris Administration to do more to prevent growing concerns over the criminalization of pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes.

“We write to bring to your attention the longstanding pattern of criminalization of people on the basis of their pregnancies and pregnancy outcomes that has intensified in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” members wrote in the letter backed by 150 House Democrats.

The letter cites the case of 33-year-old Brittany Watts, who was cleared by a Trumbull County grand jury in January of a single charge of fifth-degree abuse of corpse.

Despite Watts no longer facing criminal charges, the members are calling on the Biden-Harris Administration, along with Attorney General Merrick Garland and United States Department of Health and Human Services Director Xaview Becerra, to provide all “legal and medical” means necessary to prevent similar stories like hers — one members says is “all too common for black women” who they say “disproportionately experience adverse pregnancy outcomes due to inadequate health care, and disproportionately experience disrespect, abuse and punitive responses when they seek pregnancy-related care.”

“When individuals like Ms. Watts cannot seek medical care for pregnancy-related conditions without fear of discrimination and criminalization, our health care system and our justice system have failed,” the members wrote.

“Systemic racism, implicit bias, unequal access to quality care and inequities in social determinants of health have facilitated a system where women of color are more likely to experience pregnancy complications and be punished more often for seeking health care.”

Several advocacy groups, such as the National Women’s Law Center, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Physicians for Reproductive Health, signed an open letter published Monday.

Fears of a “pattern of criminalization” have only grown since the Dobbs V. Jackson decision by the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the reproductive rights movement.

DWC members and supporters of the letter are looking for additional measures to be taken in the form of public education along with providing financial and legal services to anyone facing potential criminal ramifications related to their pregnancy.

Members are calling for an investigation of prosecutions, “of people with pregnancy-related conditions as unlawful under federal statutes that prohibit discrimination by law enforcement on the basis of sex, including on the basis of pregnancy.”

The letter also urges that patient privacy be maintained, reiterating that hospital and medical staff must follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and seeking an investigation when a patient’s privacy is breached, as was the case for Watts after a hospital staffer reported her to authorities.

Lastly, the members seek the enforcement of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which deems it unlawful for health care providers that receive federal dollars to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, disability or national origin.

A Texas woman, Kate Cox, who filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas after she was told she did not qualify for an abortion despite her fetus being diagnosed with a genetic disorder, was invited by Biden to appear at his State of the Union Address on March 7.

Traci Timko, the attorney who represented Watts as she sought to clear her name, said an invitation has not yet been extended to her former client by the president.

cmcbride@tribtoday.com