TIFTON, GA – A Georgia woman is facing charges after officials allege she miscarried and disposed of the dead foetus in a bag.
Tifton Police responded to a Tifton Eldorado Road apartment complex about 6 a.m. Thursday after getting a report of an unconscious female bleeding.
According to police, the woman had a miscarriage and was immediately transferred to Tift Regional Medical Centre. It is unclear whether she had the miscarriage at home.
According to authorities, a witness stated that the woman placed the foetus in a bag and subsequently disposed of it in an outdoor skip. Officers were able to recover the foetus, they reported.
On Friday, authorities named the lady as Selena Maria Chandler-Scott, 24. She was charged with one count of concealing another person’s death and one count of illegally dumping away or abandoning a dead body, according to police.
Chandler-Scott is currently being held at the Tift County Jail, according to authorities.
The Chandler-Scott case comes at a time when there is growing interest in women’s abortion rights in Georgia, as well as a drive to outlaw abortion altogether in the state.
Many miscarriages occur at home, but some can be treated with abortion-specific medications or surgical methods, according to CNN.
Miscarriages and stillbirths are considered “spontaneous abortions” under current Georgia law. This language appears in the 2019 Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, often known as the “heartbeat law.” Currently, a woman can face criminal charges if she seeks an abortion because “she reasonably believed that an abortion was the only way to prevent a medical emergency.”
The LIFE Act limits abortions to six weeks of gestation. After being overturned in 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court revived the statute in October, while its legality was being considered.
According to 11Alive, Georgia lawmakers are presently considering a bill that would criminalise all abortions and in-vitro fertilisation.
House Bill 441 (2025-26 legislation) would charge a mother with “murder … of unborn children.” The law would also “remove exceptions that allow for assault and battery on an unborn child” and protect a kid’s rights from fertilisation, according to the statement.
Republicans Emory Dunahoo, Mike Cameron, Charlice Byrd, Danny Mathis, Trey Kelley, and Martin Momtahan co-sponsored the bill.
“Tens of thousands of babies created in the image of God are murdered in our state each year,” Dunahoo stated in a WSB-TV broadcast. “This bill simply ensures that the same laws that protect the lives of people after birth equally protects the lives of people before birth.”
