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DALLAS, TX: In a stunning development that proves the phrase “pro-life” can apparently be controversial even after the baby is born, the California couple who wanted Baby Gabriel aborted before birth are now furious with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for making sure the child receives lifesaving medical care.
These so called parents are nothing more than ghouls.
Gabriel was born August 12 in Dallas with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious but treatable condition requiring a series of surgeries beginning in the first weeks of life.
Surrogate mother McKenna West, an Alaska nurse and single mother of two, refused the biological parents’ request to abort the child after a prenatal diagnosis revealed the heart defect. The surrogacy contract reportedly contained a clause allowing the baby to be killed if an “anomaly” was discovered.
West instead traveled to Texas before giving birth, where she would be recognized as the birth mother under Texas law, and named the boy Gabriel.
Naturally, this did not go over well with the people who had apparently commissioned a baby but wanted a return policy if the baby came with a defective heart.
Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of Los Angeles, Gabriel’s biological parents, obtained a temporary court order granting them decision-making authority and took physical custody of the infant less than 24 hours after his birth.
The couple has now taken issue with Paxton’s office for intervening to ensure Gabriel receives medical treatment, arguing that the state lacks standing and that only the Department of Children and Family Services can intervene.
They contend that the state’s actions would deprive them of their “fundamental constitutional interest in the care, custody, control and medical decision-making for their child without constitutionally adequate notice, process, and opportunity to be heard … in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
Because apparently the most pressing constitutional crisis in Texas right now is whether the government has given adequate process before insisting that a newborn with a serious heart condition be allowed to live.
The parents also denied any intention to withhold medical care, saying they have “consistently sought the opportunity to consult” with doctors and make informed medical decisions for the child as his “parents.”
Their attorney said they “had frequently sought involvement in the medical process and had made the decision, which they felt was best for the baby.”
Yes, that decision was the one where the baby doesn't get to participate in the decision because he would have to survive long enough to have an opinion.
Attorney Lee Budner added that the couple is “continuing to place their baby’s health and well-being first, following the advice of the baby’s medical team, as they always have and just as any loving parent would.”
The couple is also “devastated to see their family tragedy transformed into political theater by the Texas Attorney General’s office and McKenna West.”
Nothing says “political theater” quite like an attorney general going to court to make sure a newborn receives lifesaving surgery.
Paxton’s office rejected that characterization, issuing the following statement:
“Once the child is born alive in Texas, he will be a complete legal person, and Texas will protect his life without regard to the circumstances of his conception or the terms of any private agreement.”
It is difficult to imagine a more outrageous concept than the radical Texas idea that a baby who has been born is, in fact, a person.
Paxton subsequently secured an emergency court order requiring lifesaving medical care, including intensive treatment and at least one surgery, while also barring the infant from being removed from Texas.
Pro-life advocates have credited Paxton’s intervention with protecting Gabriel after his intended parents had sought to have him aborted because of his heart condition.
West is challenging the parentage orders, with her attorney arguing that Texas law recognizes the woman who gives birth as the mother. A separate order currently prohibits West from having any contact with Gabriel.
Meanwhile, the custody and medical decision-making battle continues as Gabriel receives specialized care at a Texas facility with an excellent track record of treating children with his condition.
For now, Baby Gabriel is doing something that has apparently become politically controversial in certain parts of America: he is fighting to live.
And Ken Paxton is apparently guilty of the shocking offense of helping him do it.
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Gabriel was born August 12 in Dallas with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious but treatable condition requiring a series of surgeries beginning in the first weeks of life.
Surrogate mother McKenna West, an Alaska nurse and single mother of two, refused the biological parents’ request to abort the child after a prenatal diagnosis revealed the heart defect. The surrogacy contract reportedly contained a clause allowing the baby to be killed if an “anomaly” was discovered.
West instead traveled to Texas before giving birth, where she would be recognized as the birth mother under Texas law, and named the boy Gabriel.
Naturally, this did not go over well with the people who had apparently commissioned a baby but wanted a return policy if the baby came with a defective heart.
Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of Los Angeles, Gabriel’s biological parents, obtained a temporary court order granting them decision-making authority and took physical custody of the infant less than 24 hours after his birth.
The couple has now taken issue with Paxton’s office for intervening to ensure Gabriel receives medical treatment, arguing that the state lacks standing and that only the Department of Children and Family Services can intervene.
They contend that the state’s actions would deprive them of their “fundamental constitutional interest in the care, custody, control and medical decision-making for their child without constitutionally adequate notice, process, and opportunity to be heard … in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
Because apparently the most pressing constitutional crisis in Texas right now is whether the government has given adequate process before insisting that a newborn with a serious heart condition be allowed to live.
The parents also denied any intention to withhold medical care, saying they have “consistently sought the opportunity to consult” with doctors and make informed medical decisions for the child as his “parents.”
Their attorney said they “had frequently sought involvement in the medical process and had made the decision, which they felt was best for the baby.”
Yes, that decision was the one where the baby doesn't get to participate in the decision because he would have to survive long enough to have an opinion.
Attorney Lee Budner added that the couple is “continuing to place their baby’s health and well-being first, following the advice of the baby’s medical team, as they always have and just as any loving parent would.”
The couple is also “devastated to see their family tragedy transformed into political theater by the Texas Attorney General’s office and McKenna West.”
Nothing says “political theater” quite like an attorney general going to court to make sure a newborn receives lifesaving surgery.
Paxton’s office rejected that characterization, issuing the following statement:
“Once the child is born alive in Texas, he will be a complete legal person, and Texas will protect his life without regard to the circumstances of his conception or the terms of any private agreement.”
It is difficult to imagine a more outrageous concept than the radical Texas idea that a baby who has been born is, in fact, a person.
Paxton subsequently secured an emergency court order requiring lifesaving medical care, including intensive treatment and at least one surgery, while also barring the infant from being removed from Texas.
Pro-life advocates have credited Paxton’s intervention with protecting Gabriel after his intended parents had sought to have him aborted because of his heart condition.
West is challenging the parentage orders, with her attorney arguing that Texas law recognizes the woman who gives birth as the mother. A separate order currently prohibits West from having any contact with Gabriel.
Meanwhile, the custody and medical decision-making battle continues as Gabriel receives specialized care at a Texas facility with an excellent track record of treating children with his condition.
For now, Baby Gabriel is doing something that has apparently become politically controversial in certain parts of America: he is fighting to live.
And Ken Paxton is apparently guilty of the shocking offense of helping him do it.
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