US Supreme Court declines to intervene in case of surrogate mother who refused abortion
by Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 23 September 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-declines-intervene-case-surrogate-mother-refused-abortion
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to intervene in the case of a surrogate mother MW who refused to have an abortion and is now seeking custody of the child.
MW gave birth to the boy, whom she named Gabriel, in Texas in August after she fled from California when the parents asked her to abort the child over a heart defect. She argued in a Texas court that she should maintain custody over the child despite the surrogacy agreement, but a judge in Texas ruled against her. She then appealed to the Supreme Court, but Justice Elena Kagan, who handles cases arising from California, declined to hear the case on Tuesday without issuing a written decision.
The intended parents signed a surrogacy agreement with MW in August 2025. They point to a clause in the agreement that allowed for a termination of pregnancy in the case of a “fetal abnormality”.
The child was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which causes part of the heart to be under-developed and prevent normal blood flow. The child underwent surgery in Texas and is now “suffering from potential complications” related to the operation.
The natural parents attempted to force West to have an abortion when the defect was initially detected, but West refused and fled to Texas, where she received support from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton signed an order stating that the child must receive lifesaving care. The case went up to the Texas Supreme Court, which ruled last week that the child could be moved to California, where the intended parents have lined up plans for medical care.
SOURCE: Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-declines-intervene-case-surrogate-mother-refused-abortion.
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Who is accountable when someone dies after being denied an abortion?
Texas woman Tierra Walker died after she was denied a medically necessary abortion, her family claims in a new lawsuit
“Tierra Walker is dead and those responsible must be held accountable.” So begins the complaint in a new Texas lawsuit alleging that Walker died because she was denied a medically necessary abortion. Walker’s family is seeking damages under both federal and state law, along with a declaration that Texas’s laws banning abortion and a state law limiting government tort liability violate the state constitution. They have sued Walker’s doctors and hospital, the head of the Texas Medical Board, the district attorney, and the state attorney general.
Walker’s family will need to navigate a maze of immunities and other legal hurdles to put their claims before a jury. But while this is the first lawsuit of its kind, it’s unlikely to be the last. Recent studies have documented increases in maternal mortality in states that have adopted abortion bans, and reporting has identified several women who died after being denied an abortion in states with bans.
SOURCE: Texas, Texas State Court Report, by Alicia Bannon, 24 September 2026