Baby Gabriel’s “Parents” Slam Ken Paxton for Saving Him From Abortion

The California couple who sought to abort Baby Gabriel after a prenatal diagnosis of a severe heart defect are slamming Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for intervening to protect the baby from being killed in an abortion and getting the surgery he needs.

Baby 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 under a clause in their surrogacy contract that allowed killing him if an “anomaly” were found. West traveled to Texas before giving birth so she would be recognized as the birth mother under state law and named the boy Gabriel.

Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of Los Angeles, the biological parents, obtained a temporary court order granting them decision-making authority and have taken physical custody of the infant less than 24 hours after his birth.

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In court filings, they sharply criticized Paxton’s office for intervening, arguing it lacks standing and that only the Department of Children and Family Services may step in. They contend the state’s request 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.”

The parents denied any intention to withhold care, stating they have “consistently sought the opportunity to consult” with doctors to 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” – as if killing the baby is somehow the best decision for Gabriel.

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,” and that they are “devastated to see their family tragedy transformed into political theater by the Texas Attorney General’s office and McKenna West.”

Paxton’s office rejected that framing, stating: “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.”

The attorney general secured an emergency court order requiring life-saving medical care, including intensive treatment and at least one surgery, and barring the infant from being removed from Texas.

Pro-life advocates credit Paxton’s intervention with safeguarding Gabriel after the intended parents had sought to have him killed in an abortion.

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 her from any contact with the child. The custody and medical decision-making dispute remains ongoing as Gabriel receives specialized care at a Texas facility with an excellent track record of success treating his condition.