Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 15
McKenna West Seeks 1 p.m. SCOTUS Stay to Block Baby's Move From Texas
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 15

McKenna West Seeks 1 p.m. SCOTUS Stay to Block Baby's Move From Texas

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 15

Summary

  • An updated Supreme Court brief asks Justice Elena Kagan to impose an administrative stay by 1 p.m. Tuesday, after surrogate McKenna West said the baby could be moved out of Texas sooner than expected.
  • West argues California courts violated due process by treating her jurisdiction challenge as consent, then entering an ex parte parentage judgment for the California commissioning couple.
  • That ruling was later recognized by a Texas court after the Aug. 12 birth, which dismissed West from the case with prejudice and left her unable to help direct treatment for the baby’s rare heart condition, HLHS.
  • The fight began after West refused the couple's request to terminate the pregnancy, moved to Texas to give birth, and now says a transfer to California for hospice care could occur before the high court acts.

Insights

Will a legal technicality in California cost a newborn its chance at surviving a fatal heart defect in Texas?
When genetic parents and a surrogate clash over life-or-death care, who does the law say owns the child's fate?
Can a surrogacy contract force a mother to choose hospice over life-saving heart surgery for the baby she carried?