Law Courts

Pro-life groups and physicians argue that Texas' abortion law, which allows abortions to save the life of the mother, is not responsible for the death of Tierra Walker, who died of preeclampsia after receiving inadequate medical care. They contend that Walker's death was likely preventable with proper medical treatment and that the lawsuit blaming the law is politically motivated and overlooks failures in healthcare coordination and standards-based care.

The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a custody dispute involving a California couple and their surrogate, McKenna West, who refused to terminate a pregnancy despite a severe fetal heart defect diagnosis. The California court recognized Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar as the legal parents of the baby, who was born in Texas and underwent surgery, with the Supreme Court's decision leaving the parentage ruling intact amid ongoing medical care concerns.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied surrogate McKenna West's emergency appeal to overturn a California court ruling that she has no legal or physical claim to the medically fragile baby boy she carried, who was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Despite West's efforts to secure custody and ensure the baby received life-saving care in Texas, the baby's genetic parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, retain legal rights and are currently suing West for damages, while courts have ordered that the baby must receive stabilizing and life-sustaining care.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case of an infant boy born in Texas after his surrogate mother, McKenna West, refused to terminate the pregnancy despite the biological parents' request due to the child's life-threatening condition.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Meghan Schrader, a disability activist and EPC-USA board member, discusses the Texas vs. Kennedy lawsuit which threatens new protections against euthanasia and infanticide.

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.

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.

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.

McKenna West, a surrogate who refused to abort a baby diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, has filed an updated brief with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking an administrative stay to prevent the baby from being moved out of Texas.

McKenna West, a surrogate who refused to have an abortion at the request of the biological parents, filed an emergency appeal with the US Supreme Court to block a California court order that recognizes Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar as the infant's legal parents and allows them to move the newborn out of Texas. West, dismissed from the Texas court case and seeking custody or conservatorship, argues the judgment violated federal due process and fears the couple will not provide life-saving care for the baby, who was born with a serious heart defect and remains hospitalized in Dallas.

The Supreme Court let Texas ban abortion the instant doctors detect a heartbeat. Now pro-abortion activists insist that same heartbeat is just noise from a machine. Turns out obstetricians have used that...

A surrogate mother who fled to Texas to avoid an abortion requested by the biological parents is appealing to the Supreme Court to block a California court order recognizing the biological parents as the legal parents of the child. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened in the custody battle, and a Texas judge ordered life-saving care for the child and prohibited his removal from Texas.

Flanders reports another pause in a lawsuit brought by Texas and Florida challenging mifepristone's federal approval. She explains that proceedings are expected to resume after the FDA's review or the stated December deadline and notes a denied dismissal motion.

A federal judge has paused a lawsuit filed jointly by Texas and Florida seeking to revoke the FDA's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone until after the November midterm elections or the conclusion of an FDA safety review. This delay directly impacts Texas's legal efforts to challenge eased federal restrictions on mifepristone distribution, which Texas argues undermine its state abortion laws.

A Texas district court ordered UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas to provide lifesaving care to Gabriel, a baby born via surrogacy. This ruling directly involves Texas hospitals and impacts medical care decisions within the state.

For Immediate Release: March 13, 2026 Contact: media@sbaprolife.org | View Newsroom “Slap in the Face” to Pro-Life States, Voters Just Months Ahead of Midterms Washington, D.C. – Today the U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss lawsuits brought by Florida and Texas against the Food and Drug Administration – siding with the abortion industry on mail-order drugs […]