From Dallas Express · Dallas Express · · 2m
Baby Gabriel case lands at the Supreme Court
A surrogate who refused to abort is asking the nation's highest court to pause the ruling that erased her from the fight over the baby she carried.
In brief
A surrogate who refused to abort is asking the nation's highest court to pause the ruling that erased her from the fight over the baby she carried. Nothing has been decided. A justice asked for a response by September 18, and a stay would only reopen West's seat in the Texas case, not name anyone the parent…
Two names, one baby
McKenna West carried the infant and calls him Gabriel. Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, the intended and genetic parents, call him Rumi.
Born with a failing heart
The baby arrived August 12 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a severe congenital defect. West had refused the couple's request before birth to end the pregnancy.
Kagan wants an answer
Justice Elena Kagan asked for a response in docket No. 26A325 by 4 p.m. EDT on September 18. A response request is not a stay and not a promise to hear the case.
What West actually asked for
She wants an immediate administrative stay, then a hold on the June 22 California parentage judgment while she petitions for certiorari. Failing that, review and summary reversal.
A stay decides nothing
Her filing is explicit that pausing the judgment would not hand her custody or bind the Dallas court. It would only let her ask to be restored as a party in Texas.
“A stay would not decide who Baby G.'s parents are or direct any Texas court to do anything”
The jurisdiction fight
A Los Angeles court ruled June 12 that West made a general appearance. She says she showed up only to contest personal jurisdiction, and that California treated her filing as consent.
Every California door closed
The trial court denied a stay July 17, the Court of Appeal rejected three emergency writs, and the state Supreme Court denied review August 26. Her direct appeal is still pending.
Texas cut her out
Dallas orders on August 11 gave Ahmed and Gilkar custody and required life-sustaining care. Per West's filing, a judge honored the California judgment September 2 and dismissed her with prejudice.
The hospice claim is unproven
West's application raises a feared transfer to hospice around September 17. No docket filing shows the parents chose hospice, and Gilkar testified they would approve more procedures if advised.
The headline
Nothing has been decided. A justice asked for a response by September 18, and a stay would only reopen West's seat in the Texas case, not name anyone the parent.
