By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – The US Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to halt a judicial ruling declaring a California couple the legal parents of an infant born to their surrogate who refused their request to terminate the pregnancy after the fetus was diagnosed with a severe cardiac defect and later sought a role in decisions affecting the boy’s medical care.
The court denied a request by McKenna West, the woman hired by Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed to serve as a surrogate, to block the ruling by a California court while she appeals the matter to the Supreme Court.
The order was issued unilaterally by Justice Elena Kagan, who handles emergency cases arising from California and other states in the region. Kagan provided no rationale.
West refused the couple’s request to terminate the pregnancy after the cardiac diagnosis and gave birth to the baby on August 12 in Dallas.
The couple sued West for breach of their surrogacy agreement, including her refusal to terminate the pregnancy. West challenged the state of California’s authority to declare the couple the child’s legal parents. She previously sought custody of the boy and has pursued a role in decisions about his medical care.
The baby, as of last Friday, had remained in a Texas hospital, where he is receiving treatment, the couple’s lawyer said.
The couple in Supreme Court papers last Friday argued that they are committed to the same lifesaving care that West has said she wants for the boy.
After the dispute arose, a California trial court in June ruled that Gilkar and Ahmed were the legal parents, rejecting West’s contention that the court lacked jurisdiction over her, and state appellate courts declined to stay that decision. This prompted West’s request to the Supreme Court.
In a filing, West’s lawyers argued that the Supreme Court’s intervention was needed because the California judicial ruling was being enforced in Texas, leaving her without authority over the child amid decisions about his medical care.
West is represented by lawyers from the conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom. The group has been involved in anti-abortion litigation including the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in which the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade landmark that had legalized abortion nationwide.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for a US Senate seat, backed West at an earlier stage of the case.
(Reporting by John Kruzel)
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