A surrogate mother who refused to abort a baby diagnosed with a serious heart condition is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.
McKenna West filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to stay a Los Angeles Superior Court’s ruling that stripped her of legal and physical claim to the baby she calls Gabriel.
A Dallas County court upheld the California court’s ruling earlier this month.
West had moved to Texas after discovering the unborn child’s heart condition, which had led the biological parents to call for an abortion. West found that Children’s Medical Center of Dallas has a 100 percent success rate in treating the condition and refused to abort.
Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an emergency court order in August to ensure baby Gabriel received the procedures he needed upon birth.
However, West’s lawyers believe the most recent court rulings could pose a threat to baby Gabriel’s ability to receive the additional medical treatment his condition requires.
Life News reported, “West’s lawyers say the judgment has left the 28-year-old cardiac nurse with no right to information about the baby and no standing to defend an order requiring his continued treatment. They say a later victory could come too late.”
The appeal focuses on the baby’s need for an advocate: “Because the Texas Attorney General has now withdrawn from the case and M.W. has been dismissed from it, no remaining party defends that order, which may be reversed or lifted at any moment. Indeed, the child could be removed from the Texas hospital and taken to California for hospice—despite his treatable condition—around September 17, if not sooner.”
“I’m not fighting to try to take someone else’s baby. I’m fighting because this baby boy needs someone willing to advocate for and fight alongside him as he gets the ongoing treatment his fragile heart requires,” wrote West.
Pro-life advocates are concerned that if a judge reverses the order for baby Gabriel’s medical care, the parents could discontinue the care necessary to keep him alive.
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has jurisdiction over the emergency plea.
Today, she requested the opposition to respond to the appeal by 4 p.m. on September 18. The court awaits the response and will likely not act until it is received.
