Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) is well known for his awful and dishonest takes. But in this case, he may have outdone himself in his flawed effort to score some cheap political points against the pro-life movement.

On Saturday, Lieu wrote a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he highlighted the story of an Ohio woman who is currently facing charges after suffering a miscarriage at 22 weeks of pregnancy. In his post, Lieu attempted to pin the blame for this on Republicans, repeating a common lie that conservatives want to throw women in prison for losing their children.

Democrats believe in freedom.

Extreme Republicans are now criminalizing women who have a miscarriage.

The two parties are not the same.

Democrats believe in freedom.

Extreme Republicans are now criminalizing women who have a miscarriage.

The two parties are not the same. https://t.co/nLku9nDoML

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 23, 2023

Of course, what Lieu is banking on is the reality that most people won’t actually read the article he posted. Indeed, he probably didn’t even read it. If he had, he would have known that Britney Watts is not being charged for suffering a miscarriage.

A tragic incident that occurred in Ohio highlights the complexities of the abortion debate and discussions around the fairness of the laws under which Americans live. A woman is facing prosecution for allegedly violating a corpse after she had a miscarriage in the restroom of her home.

Britney Watts suffered the miscarriage at 22 weeks of pregnancy when she was using the restroom, and tried to flush the remains down the toilet.

A Warren mother accused of abuse of a corpse involving the handling of the miscarriage of her 22-week-old fetus will have her case heard by a Trumbull County grand jury following a Thursday hearing.

Brittany Watts, 33, of Tod Avenue NW, faces a single charge of abuse of corpse, a fifth-degree felony. During an arraignment in Warren Municipal Court earlier this month, Watts pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Warren Assistant Prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri said the police investigation found that Watts miscarried the baby while using the restroom and tried to plunge and flush the remains down the toilet, where it got stuck in the pipes.

Guarnieri said the toilet had to be removed by police and taken to the Trumbull County Coroner’s Office. The fetus was about 22 weeks old when the incident took place on Sept. 22.

He argued in favor of having the case move forward, with which Warren Municipal Court Judge Terry Ivanchak agreed, determining there was probable cause for the case to be bound over to the grand jury.

Guarnieri said the state did not have to prove viability, citing a section of Ohio Revised Code 2927.01 that reads, “no person, except as authorized by law, shall treat a human corpse in a way that would outrage reasonable community sensibilities.”

Forensic Pathologist Dr. George Sturbans, who performed an autopsy on the baby, concluded that it had perished before passing through the birth canal, meaning that Watts did not kill her unborn child. The case centers on the fact that she placed the child in the toilet after suffering the miscarriage.

Other users debunked Lieu's lie. However, not everyone who first saw the post before this will know the truth, which means the lawmaker's lie is likely being believed by a considerable number of people. Even after being corrected, he has still not acknowledged that he was wrong, which further shows that he sought to deceive people.

It’s a tragic case regardless of what opinion one holds of Watts’ actions. But her situation should not be exploited just to attack political opponents as Lieu has done. It’s already bad enough that Lieu lied about the case. But it’s even worse to take this woman’s ordeal and weaponize it. This is the type of behavior many have come to expect from his ilk.