Update 4/6/2025: Charges have been dropped against a woman who was arrested last month after she put her miscarried baby’s remains in a dumpster in Georgia.
Selena Chandler-Scott, 24, was charged with concealing the death of another person and abandoning a dead body after she had a miscarriage in March. Her baby was 19 weeks gestation and the state medical examiner ruled that he or she had not taken a breath and had died in the womb.
A review of the case “indicated no signs of life or independent respiration occurred, and no evidence of trauma or foul play was present,” said District Attorney Patrick Warren.
According to Warren, Georgia law states that in order for someone to be charged with these crimes, the other person must have been “born and existed separate and independent of its mother.” That did not happen in this case.
3/30/2025: A woman in Georgia was arrested this week after allegedly putting the body of her miscarried baby into a dumpster. She is charged with concealing the death of another person and one count of throwing away or abandoning a dead body.
Selena Maria Chandler-Scott was found unconscious and bleeding by EMS. On the tip of a witness, police located the remains of her 19-week preborn baby in a bag in a dumpster nearby. According to a press release from the Tifton, Georgia police department, Chandler-Scott suffered a miscarriage. She was brought to a hospital for treatment and was not immediately charged.
The baby showed no signs of injury or trauma and was found to have never taken a breath.
Previable Baby Olivia at 18 weeks after fertilization (20 weeks LMP) (Image credit Live Action)
Although media outlets are blaming the state’s pro-life law, that law was not the reason the woman was arrested.
In Georgia, concealing the death of a person is a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 if the concealment prevents authorities from learning if the person was killed unlawfully. Georgia code also prohibits a person from throwing away or abandoning a dead human body, which is also a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.
The story is similar to that of Brittany Watts, an Ohio woman who was arrested in 2023 after she attempted to flush the body of her second-trimester miscarried child down the toilet. She was charged with abuse of a corpse but a grand jury refused to indict her.
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In response to the Chandler-Scott’s arrest, women told Secular Pro-life of their own experiences with miscarriage and how there is no guidance provided on what to do with the baby’s body. Many hospitals dispose of the babies in medical waste or the garbage.
“I was made fun of on the internet for wanting to keep our babies we lost so they wouldn’t be thrown away at the hospital,” said one woman. “I got the remains of our son who we lost through miscarriage at 14 weeks I had a d&c and the ob made an exception to have them give us. his remains after the lab processed them for 3 weeks. I walked out of the hospital with a biohazard bag that held the shredded remains of our baby… When we lost our twins…at 13 weeks the hospital refused to let us have their remains. … Our daughter… we lost at 15 weeks. She was born at home. I hemorrhaged and lost consciousness and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. I wouldn’t let them take her. We were able to take her home at discharge. … Because we were before 20 weeks the hospitals had no set protocol on how to deal with our losses.”
Another woman wrote, “I miscarried my son at 19w… I was induced because we weren’t sure how long ago he had passed …. I’d given birth 6 times before and i was still unprepared to deliver my small son’s body. The Dr said I should push because my contractions had already gotten him down low. I pushed and was absolutely shocked how fast it all happened. I started screaming and crying. They were trying to not let me look at him because I had expressed fears on what his body would look like. I then pleaded they let me look. They picked him up and put him in a receiving blanket dusted with baby powder so his skin wouldn’t stick to the fibers. I have no idea what I would have done if I had been alone at home….” She ultimately buried her son under her window with his own memorial statue and garden.
“Miscarriage is hard and even if you feel like you have a plan, the shock of delivering your small dead child overrides your higher brain for a while,” she added.
Editor’s Note 4/3/2025: This article was updated with quotes from women who have experienced miscarriage.
