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TIFTON, Ga. (WALB) - The Tift County District Attorney is weighing in on a case involving a mother Tifton police arrested for allegedly throwing away a fetus.

On March 21, Selena Maria Chandler Scott was charged with one count of concealing the death of another person and one count of throwing away or abandonment of a dead body. Police say that after Scott suffered from a miscarriage, she threw away her 19-week-old fetus.

Patrick Warren, Tift County district attorney, said he did not participate in issuing warrants for Scott. While he can’t comment on the pending case, he released this statement:

There is no specific Georgia statute or case law that addresses an individual’s choice to dispose of a naturally miscarried, non-viable fetus as it is generally deemed a medical condition and prosecution is not warranted. Georgia courts have held that once a baby is ‘born alive and has had an independent and separate existence from its mother’ then what happens to the child (injury or death) can be subject to criminal prosecution.

Tifton Deputy Coroner Blair Veazy told WALB last week that the autopsy showed the 19-week-old fetus never took a breath. This case is similar to over 200 others nationwide that an organization called Pregnancy Justice is fighting.

“It’s absolutely tragic and inconsolable that a woman in a medical emergency, as you described, who was bleeding and unconscious, who was then charged with a crime,” said Dana Sussman, the Senior Vice President of Pregnancy Justice.

Sussman said it’s believed that 10 to 15% of pregnancies end in pregnancy loss nationally--some of which are policed by legislation.

As Scott and her family are faced with uncertainty, they have organized a GoFundMe that has raised over $3,000 since Monday afternoon.

Sussman said they’re prepared to battle what they believe is an unjustified case.

“We certainly hope that this case ends very soon and that these charges are dropped,” She said.

Right now, the District Attorney’s Office is waiting to receive the completed case file from the Tifton Police Department. Warren said once that is sent, he will determine whether to proceed, and, if so, for what charges.

“I want to make sure we take this off of the stage of national attention or what other people want us to do, and we slow down. We treat her as a human being,” Warren said. “We look at the facts and circumstances of the case, we look at the valid Georgia Law, and if those two things don’t match, then we’re obligated not to go forward. But I will say if those two things do match, then we will go forward.”

WALB News 10′s Lenah Allen will share more details about this story in later newscasts.

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