Weeks after sharing a heartfelt video on TikTok about her experience with South Carolina’s abortion ban, Elisabeth Weber spoke out on Tuesday regarding her struggles. She was compelled to carry her fetus for weeks after learning there was no heartbeat and it had ceased developing.
Weber detailed her situation to People magazine, stating, “My baby didn’t have a heartbeat, and I still couldn’t get care” due to the state law known as the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act. This law prohibits abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, typically around six weeks of pregnancy.
At nine weeks pregnant, Weber, a 31-year-old mother of three, discovered in late March that her fetus—already named by her and her husband—had stopped growing at just over six weeks.
Initially, she was sent home from the local ER, advised to let the miscarriage happen naturally, but she returned due to ongoing severe nausea and vomiting, symptoms she’d experienced in all her pregnancies.
In her TikTok video, posted on March 31, Weber recounted, “They confirmed that the baby is dead. No heartbeat, nothing. They discussed a D&C to manage my symptoms since my body was still acting as if I was pregnant.”
However, during her second ER visit, a doctor informed her that she would have to wait an additional week—two weeks after the miscarriage was first noted—and undergo more ultrasounds to reaffirm the pregnancy’s non-viability before being allowed to have a D&C.
While coping with her loss and caring for her children, Weber expressed to People how difficult it was, saying, “I have three kids, and waiting to go through this is hard.”
“I can’t believe I’m forced to carry my dead baby,” she shared. “They know it’s gone, they know it’s dead, and I’m still required to carry it… There’s truly no feeling like when your womb becomes a tomb.”
Jessica Valenti, a writer and advocate who addresses Republican actions against reproductive rights in her newsletter, Abortion, Every Day, interviewed Weber shortly after her TikTok went live.
Valenti pointed out that doctors told Weber they could perform standard miscarriage care only if she developed severe complications, like sepsis. She noted that the symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) could mimic those of infection, leaving Weber uncertain about her condition.
Weber mentioned that during her conversation with one doctor, the physician lamented the restrictions of South Carolina’s abortion ban—one of 19 similar laws in the U.S.
Weber recalled the doctor’s sorrow as she expressed, “I wish it was different. I wish we could help you.” Weber then replied, “It’s okay,” to which the doctor responded, “It’s not okay.”
Even at another hospital, Weber was denied a D&C after being told her white blood cell count indicated a possible infection. She shared, “Everything pointed to me having an active infection,” yet she still had to wait for treatment.
Valenti remarked that the narrative surrounding Republican policies suggests they protect women’s health, asking, “What do they call what’s happening to this South Carolina mom right now?”
In a recent TikTok update after finally receiving care, Weber revealed that she and her husband have decided against having more children following their experience. “We just can’t risk going through something like that again,” Weber stated.
