A surrogate mother who refused to perform an abortion despite the demands of her biological parents has won her first legal battle just weeks before her due date. McKenna West, a nurse from Alaska, is due to give birth to a baby boy named Gabriel on September 2. However, during the pregnancy, the fetus was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a rare and serious congenital heart disease, the New York Post reports.
The child’s biological parents, Nacine Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, from California, urged West to have an abortion after receiving the diagnosis. However, the nurse traveled to Texas, where, under state law, she would be considered the fetus’s biological mother.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition in court, calling on doctors to provide Gabriel with life-saving medical care after birth and prevent his transfer out of state.
The court granted the request, determining that after the birth of the child, the necessary medical care should be provided to support life and stabilize it, pending a further court order.
In its ruling, the court also ruled that no one can deny, hinder or delay this medical care. Also, until further notice, the child cannot leave the hospital where he is being treated or the territory of the state of Texas. Lawyers for the biological parents have not yet commented on this development and West’s first legal victory. “Every child in our state deserves care and protection.”
“The court made the right decision, acting immediately to protect baby Gabriel’s life and ensure he receives the care he deserves,” Paxton said after the court’s decision.
“My office used every tool at its disposal to protect life, and we will not back down from our efforts to continue to support the well-being of baby Gabriel. Every child in our state deserves to be cared for and protected, and that is exactly what I will fight for,” he added.
The doctor discovered that the fetus had a serious heart problem in April, during the 20th week of pregnancy. The diagnosis came completely unexpectedly. “The baby’s parents were talking on FaceTime after the ultrasound. The doctor came in and told us that there was something very serious with the baby’s heart. There was no blood flow to the left side of the heart. He said he wasn’t qualified to make the diagnosis and that I needed to go to a fetal medicine specialist for another ultrasound,” West told Live Action News.
“So, we were all very upset. It was completely unexpected. Everything was going well. There was no indication that anything was wrong. All the genetic tests came back normal. However, in the surrogacy contract there was a clause that allowed termination of the pregnancy in the event of an ‘abnormality’ during the pregnancy and I was afraid that the baby’s biological parents would decide to go ahead with the abortion. I was pretty sure that they would choose to terminate the pregnancy. How could I live with my conscience if I did that?” she said.
West, a single mother of two, refused to have an abortion in Alaska and is now facing a lawsuit filed by Gilkar and Ahmed. They are demanding that she have the abortion in California, where they live.
However, according to the lawsuit, West is only willing to travel to California if the baby’s biological parents allow her to receive necessary medical treatment. Ahmed and Gilkar are expected to appear in Dallas County District Court on August 25.