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Supreme Court Considers Surrogate's Appeal in Baby Care Dispute
Confirmed
In Short: A California couple is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a custody battle over a 4-week-old baby with a serious heart defect.
McKenna West, the surrogate, is seeking the Supreme Court's intervention to halt a California order that recognizes Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar as the baby's parents. The baby, born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, requires life-saving surgery, but West believes the couple plans to put him into hospice care instead.
The case has been through multiple court proceedings in Alaska, California, and Texas. The Texas court granted full credit to the California judgment, but West argues that Ahmed and Gilkar are not committed to providing the necessary medical care. The couple has not responded to the Supreme Court filing.
West's attorneys have stated that they would drop their claim if the California couple would commit to life-saving care for the baby. However, the Supreme Court is not obliged to hear the case, and Gilkar testified that she and her husband couldn't know until after the baby was born if he would be a candidate for the first open heart surgery.
The dispute has led to a series of legal maneuvers, including a contempt hearing for the Missouri Secretary of State and a stay granted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court's decision to intervene in the Missouri congressional map case came after conflicting rulings from the U.S. District Judge and the Missouri Supreme Court.
Background
The Goshen News is a five-day, Tuesday through Saturday daily newspaper serving Goshen, Indiana, and adjacent portions of Elkhart, Kosciusko, Noble, LaGrange and Marshall Counties in Indiana. The paper publishes Tuesday through Friday with a Saturday Weekend edition.
What's confirmed
- A California couple’s surrogate who refused their wishes to have an abortion is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a custody dispute over the 4-week-old child who was born with a serious heart defect.
- West is asking the nation’s highest court to halt a California order that recognizes Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar as his parents.
- West wants final custody or conservatorship because she believes the couple will not provide life-saving care.
What's still developing
- The Supreme Court turned back another effort to use Missouri congressional maps supported by President Donald Trump.
- "The application for stay presented to Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is granted," Thursday's ruling read.
- The court’s decision came after U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark ordered Missouri to use the new map, conflicting with a unanimous ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court that said the districts had not legally taken effect and that the state’s older map should be used unless voters approve the changes.
- Following the U.S. Supreme Court's stay, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said his office is directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map.
- The Missouri Supreme Court also ordered Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to appear at a contempt hearing Thursday, after he instructed local election officials to use the new districts.
- The Missouri Supreme Court ordered that referendum to appear on the November ballot, meaning voters will decide whether the redrawn map can be used in future elections.
- The court's brief order was unsigned and gave no explanation, as is common when the justices handle emergency matters.
- "Changing the rules mid-election is reckless and wrong." The court’s decision came after U.S.