Kagan declines emergency request in surrogate custody dispute

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan declined McKenna West’s emergency request to block the effect of a California custody ruling involving a newborn with a serious heart condition, leaving the lower-court decisions in place. Kagan issued the order on Tuesday, September 22, without a written explanation. The ruling does not establish that the baby has been transferred from Texas to California; reports differ on his current location and treatment status. The child, whom West calls Gabriel and his genetic parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, call Rumi, was born in Texas in August. He has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital condition in which part of the heart is underdeveloped and which requires ongoing medical care. West’s emergency filing sought to halt the effect of California’s decision recognizing Ahmed and Gilkar as the child’s parents. Courts in Texas had rejected West’s claims, and Kagan’s refusal leaves those rulings undisturbed. The Texas Supreme Court ruled last week that the baby could be moved to California, where his parents said medical care had been arranged. That permission does not confirm a transfer.