Georgia Lawmaker Calls Arrest of Woman After Miscarriage ‘Insanity’

A Georgia lawmaker is calling on the state legislature to repeal the fetal personhood language in the state’s six-week abortion ban, after a Tifton woman was arrested following a miscarriage.

State Sen. Sally Harrell of Atlanta made her appeal from the Senate floor, just days after 24-year-old Selena Maria Chandler-Scott was charged with concealing a death and abandoning a dead body.

“Selena’s arrest is a terrifying consequence of this legislature’s actions,” Harrell said, referring to the 2019 passage of House Bill 481. “This woman did not commit a crime. Her body did what women’s bodies sometimes do.”

Chandler-Scott was arrested March 21, a day after she was treated at Tift Regional Medical Center for a miscarriage at 19 weeks gestation. Police say she disposed of fetal remains in an apartment dumpster. An autopsy confirmed the fetus never took a breath and that it was a natural miscarriage.

But under HB 481, often called Georgia’s “heartbeat law,” a fetus has the same legal status as a person after cardiac activity is detected—typically around six weeks into a pregnancy. That provision, Harrell warned, is now being used to criminalize women for natural reproductive events.

“This case demonstrates the idiocy of fetal personhood,” Harrell said. “Every woman of reproductive age in Georgia who miscarries beyond six weeks can now be investigated—or even arrested—based on what her body does.”

Harrell recounted the typical course of a miscarriage at eight weeks: bleeding, possible expulsion of fetal tissue, and rest. But under current law, she said, that woman could be charged with felonies carrying up to 13 years in prison—ten for concealing a death and three for abandoning a body.

“This is insanity,” she said. “And it’s just plain wrong.”

Chandler-Scott’s arrest drew national attention and sparked outrage from reproductive rights advocates. The local district attorney later clarified that his office did not request the warrant and indicated the situation was highly unusual.

Harrell urged lawmakers to “admit they did wrong” and reverse course.

“The legislature needs to refrain from assuming for itself the wrath and judgment of God,” she said. “Selena Maria Chandler-Scott is not just one woman—she is all of us.”

You can watch Harrell’s full statement here:

In the days since we first covered this story, The Georgia Sun has made multiple attempts to contact the Tifton Police Department for answers. Several readers have asked what women who have a miscarriage should do to avoid prosecution. We have been unable to get an answer from law enforcement. They have responded to open records requests with minimal information, but have yet to answer questions about the case.