Justice Kagan Declines Surrogate's Appeal in Parental Rights Dispute
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has declined an emergency appeal from McKenna West, a surrogate mother, who sought to maintain control over the medical care of a child born with a serious heart defect. The biological parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, had initially requested West to terminate the pregnancy after the fetus was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. West, however, changed her mind, traveled from Alaska to Texas (a state with a near-total abortion ban), and gave birth to the child. She developed an emotional connection and hoped to keep the baby. A California court subsequently ruled in favor of Ahmed and Gilkar, granting them parental authority, and a Texas judge authorized them to make medical decisions for the child. West's appeal to the Supreme Court challenged the California court's jurisdiction and alleged a violation of her 14th Amendment due-process rights, but Justice Kagan, who handles requests from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, declined to pause th...
