Supreme Court declines to intervene in surrogate custody dispute over abortion refusal
The U.S. Supreme Court refused an emergency appeal to halt a lower-court ruling that granted parental rights to a California couple, leaving a custody battle over a baby born with a severe heart defect unresolved.
Justice Elena Kagan denied an emergency request from surrogate McKenna West, who sought to block a California court decision that awarded parental rights to the couple that hired her. The couple had asked West to terminate the pregnancy after a 20-week ultrasound revealed the fetus had hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, a serious congenital defect. West instead traveled to Texas, where abortions are largely prohibited, and gave birth to the child last month.
The infant required immediate surgery, which was performed in Texas following an emergency order issued by the state attorney general. West argued that the biological parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, might not provide the necessary medical care because they had previously sought an abortion. She contended that this concern justified her request for custody.
A California court had previously recognized Ahmed and Gilkar as the child's legal parents, while a Texas court issued a restraining order preventing West from seeing the baby. The parents maintain that the child is theirs and have accused West of traveling to Texas without informing them and of restricting their access to medical information. An attorney for the couple described the child's condition as critical and warned of possible complications.
The Supreme Court's refusal to intervene leaves the lower-court rulings in place while the custody dispute continues.