The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a custody dispute involving California parents and a surrogate who refused their request for an abortion after the unborn child was diagnosed with a serious heart defect. The surrogate, McKenna West, delivered the child in Texas and sought conservatorship, while the biological parents sued for breach of the surrogacy agreement and were previously ruled legal parents by a California court.
The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a custody dispute involving California parents and a surrogate who refused their request for an abortion after the unborn child was diagnosed with a serious heart defect. The surrogate, McKenna West, sought conservatorship of the child after delivering him in Texas, while the biological parents sued for breach of the surrogacy agreement and were previously ruled legal parents by a California trial court.
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan declined an emergency request from surrogate McKenna West to intervene in a custody dispute involving biological parents who had told her to get an abortion. West sought to overturn a parentage judgment issued in California in favor of the couple, but the case was not taken up by the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan declined to intervene in a custody dispute involving a baby born via surrogate after the surrogate refused to terminate the pregnancy despite a diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The lower court's order granting custody to the biological parents, who are caring for the baby in Texas following open-heart surgery, was upheld without explanation from Kagan.
A Texas District Court vacated an emergency order that had kept Baby Gabriel/Rumi, born via surrogate McKenna West, in Texas to receive care for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, allowing his genetic parents to move him to California if approved by doctors. The court found that the genetic parents have consented to all recommended medical treatments and that some restrictions of the emergency order were no longer medically necessary, while maintaining that stabilizing and life-sustaining care must continue and that the Guardian Ad Litem remains appointed for the child.
Two women, Magon Hoffman and Sheena Hamlin, filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma officials and health advisors after being denied abortions following prenatal diagnoses of fatal fetal conditions, leading them to seek abortions out of state. The lawsuit, supported by two doctors and a pro-abortion group, argues that Oklahoma's pro-life law violates their rights to life, liberty, and equal protection by not allowing abortion exceptions for fatal fetal diagnoses, despite the state's law permitting abortion only to save the life of the mother.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Baby Gabriel, born via surrogacy with a severe heart defect, can be taken from Texas to California by his biological parents for further treatment. Surrogate McKenna West sought sole conservatorship to control medical decisions and prevent the transfer, but the court prioritized the child's medical care and allowed the parents to proceed with the ICU-to-ICU transfer for additional surgeries.
Cases where women were coerced or forced to take abortion pills by their partners, including incidents in Wisconsin and Louisiana, highlighting the ease of obtaining abortion pills online without proper safeguards. It also reports on a federal lawsuit against the FDA and an OB-GYN's test showing that online abortion pill providers do not verify identities or medical conditions, allowing potentially dangerous situations for women to occur.
Planned Parenthood continued to bill Medicaid in Texas after being banned in 2015 due to undercover footage showing officials negotiating the sale of aborted baby body parts. A federal appeals court recently rejected Planned Parenthood's appeal, sending the case back to a Texas federal court where the organization must defend approximately 144,411 Medicaid claims worth about $17 million, potentially leading to damages approaching $1.8 billion under the False Claims Act.
A federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit filed by pro-abortion groups challenging new grant eligibility guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that bar recipients using abortion as family planning from receiving Title X funds starting fiscal year 2027.
Florida couple Joshua and Natalie Strong filed a lawsuit against Brown Fertility clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, alleging the clinic used another man's sperm to create their daughter's embryo, as confirmed by DNA tests showing Joshua is not the biological father. The couple claims the clinic has not accounted for Joshua's missing sperm, refused to admit the error, and they are seeking damages exceeding $50,000 while raising concerns about the possible use of Joshua's sperm in other embryos without their knowledge.
The Texas Supreme Court has allowed Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit against Yelp to proceed, challenging the company's use of labels on pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) that Paxton alleges are misleading because they were applied uniformly to all PRCs regardless of whether they have licensed medical professionals onsite. Yelp had initially placed labels stating that PRCs typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals, but changed the label after the lawsuit to say PRCs do not offer abortions or referrals, and the legal dispute continues after lower courts reinstated Paxton's suit despite Yelp's attempts to dismiss it.
A group of four Muslim doctors in Illinois is suing the state over the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, arguing that the law violates their religious beliefs by requiring them to inform patients about assisted suicide options despite their Islamic faith opposing the practice. The lawsuit claims the law's exemptions for doctors who opt out are among the narrowest in the nation and requests the federal court to strike down the law, while other healthcare professionals of different faiths have also filed lawsuits or expressed concerns about the law's requirements.
Abortion advocates in Indiana are claiming that the state's law banning most abortions violates their right to exercise religion, and the Indiana Supreme Court is considering their lawsuit. However, legal precedents and scholars argue that to qualify as an exercise of religion, an action must be compelled by religious belief, not merely consistent with it, and the government has a compelling interest in protecting human life in the womb.
The upcoming midterm elections include four statewide ballot measures related to abortion in Missouri, Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia, each proposing different levels of abortion access and restrictions. Despite the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision returning abortion policy to the states, the article emphasizes that the pro-life movement's goal to make abortion unthinkable remains ongoing and that grassroots activism continues to be crucial in shaping the nation's future on this issue.
A wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Texas' heartbeat law contributed to the death of Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old woman with multiple chronic health conditions, but medical experts argue that her care was mishandled independently of the abortion law. Texas' heartbeat law and subsequent Life Of The Mother Act provide exceptions for abortions in medical emergencies, and experts state that doctors are legally permitted to intervene when a pregnancy complication could lead to death, contradicting claims that the law prevented necessary medical care.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Cedar Park Assembly of God in Washington is not exempt from the state's Reproductive Parity Act, which requires employers to include abortion coverage in insurance plans if maternity coverage is offered. The court found that the church failed to prove the law was hostile to religion and noted the church could have purchased insurance excluding abortion coverage but chose not to do so.
Meghan Schrader, a disability activist and EPC-USA board member, discusses the Texas vs. Kennedy lawsuit which threatens new protections against euthanasia and infanticide.
The family of Tierra Walker filed a lawsuit against Texas officials and medical professionals, alleging that the state's pro-life law prevented doctors from performing an abortion that they claim was the only stabilizing treatment for her preeclampsia and other health conditions. Medical experts and reports indicate that the standard of care for severe preeclampsia is early delivery to save the mother and baby, not an induced abortion, and Walker's death was likely due to subpar medical care rather than the abortion law itself.
Four Muslim doctors in Illinois have filed a lawsuit against the state's End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, which requires them to assist terminally ill patients in obtaining lethal drugs for assisted suicide, conflicting with their religious beliefs. The doctors, represented by Becket, seek a federal court order to block the law and protect their right to refuse participation in assisted suicide without facing fines or penalties.
On September 14, the Jayton, Texas City Council considered an ordinance to outlaw abortion and abortion trafficking, declaring the city a Sanctuary City for the Unborn, but voted 4-1 to table the measure for further review at the next meeting on September 22. If adopted, the ordinance would prohibit elective abortions and abortion trafficking within Jayton, extend enforcement of the Texas Heartbeat Act from detectable heartbeat to fertilization, and ban abortion-inducing drugs and related activities within the city, enforced through private lawsuits against violators but not against mothers.
Two women, Clara Munger Boyer and KPS, have filed a federal lawsuit against Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS), alleging they were coerced into abortions without proper informed consent or counseling at Planned Parenthood facilities in Minnesota. Both women describe experiencing significant pressure from family members and the fathers of their babies, with PPMNS staff failing to provide adequate information about the abortion procedures or address their moral objections and distress before performing the abortions.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard oral arguments in State of Louisiana v. FDA, a case challenging the FDA's policy allowing chemical abortion drugs to be mailed without an in-person medical exam, a policy initiated during the Covid-19 pandemic and continued by both the Biden and Trump administrations.
The family of Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old Texas woman who died from preeclampsia in 2024 while four months pregnant, filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after doctors denied her an abortion. Walker experienced seizures, blood clots, and a hypertensive crisis during her pregnancy and had requested an abortion multiple times.
Ohio appeals court Judge Matthew R. Byrne was the sole judge opposing the dismissal of a legal challenge to Ohio's six-week abortion ban after voters passed a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights.
The family of Tierra Walker, a Texas woman who died from preeclampsia after being denied an abortion, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton and her medical team, alleging that Texas's abortion restrictions and their enforcement created a climate of fear that prevented timely medical intervention. Medical experts reviewing Walker's case stated her death was likely preventable, and the lawsuit highlights the tension between Texas abortion laws and medical decisions in cases where the mother's health is at serious risk.
Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old pregnant woman from San Antonio, died in December 2024 after doctors allegedly refused to perform an abortion despite her experiencing seizures and blood clots. Her family filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other officials, claiming that the denial of abortion caused her death and arguing that Texas' abortion ban is unconstitutional.
Senator Josh Hawley announced the signing of a new Declaration for Life at the Missouri Prayer Breakfast, calling on Congress members to support his legislation to ban the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. The Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act, co-sponsored by several Republican senators, aims to withdraw FDA approval of mifepristone and allow lawsuits against its manufacturers, with the FDA currently reviewing the drug and expected to announce a decision by the end of the year.
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Ohio appeals court Judge Matthew R. Byrne, who has a career of pro-life work, to a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The vote was 52-45. President Donald Trump nominated Byrne on the recommendation of Ohio’s two Republican senators and Vice President JD […] The post Senate Confirms Pro-Life State Judge for Federal Judgeship appeared first on LifeNews.com .
Surrogate mother McKenna West is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge a California court ruling that denies her parental rights to Baby Gabriel, whom she refused to abort despite the biological parents' request due to the baby's congenital heart condition.
