The Modern Judgment of Solomon: Surrogate Refused to Have an Abortion - and Demands the Court Let Her Raise the Baby

A surrogate mother from Alaska refused to have an abortion requested by the couple who commissioned the surrogacy, after a heart defect was discovered in the fetus. Now, a month after the birth, she has turned to the U.S. Supreme Court to appeal the ruling on the couple's legal parenthood and fight for continued care of the baby.

An unusual legal battle over the life of a baby born to a surrogate mother has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. McKenna West, a nurse from Alaska, refused during the pregnancy the demand of the couple Naushin Gilkar and Omar Ahmed from California to have an abortion, after it was discovered that the fetus suffers from a severe heart defect. Now, nearly a month after giving birth to him in Texas, she has turned to the Supreme Court in an attempt to stop a ruling that determined Gilkar and Ahmed are his legal parents, and to allow her to resume fighting for the continued care of the baby. The legal battle began at the 20th week of pregnancy, when the heart defect was discovered. West claims the couple asked her to terminate the pregnancy, but she refused, saying she could not "kill this sweet baby after feeling him move." She offered to raise the baby herself or help find adoptive parents. The couple turned to a court in California, which on June 22 ruled they are his legal parents. Ahead of the birth, West traveled to Texas, where Attorney General Ken Paxton obtained an emergency order requiring the hospital to provide life-saving care. The baby was born on August 12 and underwent the first of three open-heart surgeries. Her lawyers are now asking the Supreme Court to freeze the ruling. Justice Elena Kagan has not yet decided on the request.