Ken Paxton Is Turning a Family’s Medical Tragedy Into Another One of His Anti-Abortion Crusades

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-Tex.) elbowing his way to center stage of any anti-abortion legal battle he can get his grubby hands on. 

The story begins a few weeks ago, when Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed—a couple from California—reportedly agreed with their surrogate, McKenna West, from Alaska, to terminate their 20-week pregnancy, after the fetus had been diagnosed with a congenital heart issue. However, West then relocated to Texas (home to one of the strictest abortion bans in the country), asked for protection from the state, and on Tuesday Paxton stepped in to secure an emergency order for the fetus he very transparently nicknamed “baby Gabriel.” While the due date was for early September, the baby was born Wednesday.

“The state of Texas has no business meddling with any family’s private medical decisions,” Karla Torres, Senior Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Jezebel. “Everyone deserves respect, compassion, and the ability to decide what’s best for themselves and their families.”

Oh my god this case is crazy. A California couple has a surrogate and the pregnancy has severe complications and the parents want an abortion but the surrogate refused and went to TX and now the state is getting involved.

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/release…

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— Jen Rice (@jenrice.bsky.social) August 11, 2026 at 3:40 PM

Shortly after Paxton’s intervention, a Dallas County judge also issued temporary restraining orders on West, thus blocking her from making more medical decisions and ceding child custody to the state. The court also required life-saving care to be provided upon birth. Gilkar and Ahmed have since accused West and Paxton of turning a tragedy into “political theater.”

“As if the heartbreak of his condition were not enough, they are devastated to see their family tragedy transformed into political theater by the Texas Attorney General’s office and McKenna West,” Lee Budner, a lawyer for Gilkar and Ahmed, said to the New York Times. Currently, West is seeking custody of the child.

The three reportedly met through Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists, LLC, and signed an agreement in Alaska. As is customary, they agreed the intended parents (IPs) would be given the parental rights to make choices regarding the fetus. So when the 20-week scan showed the child would have hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS)—which causes the left side of the heart to grow improperly, and interferes with its ability to pump blood throughout the body—the three agreed to have an abortion. Per the CDC factbook, children born with HLHS need several surgeries to survive—and none of them are a cure, with lifelong complications possibly following.

Speaking on the Megyn Kelly show last week, however, West said that she felt “trapped” by the contract she’d signed. “I knew in my soul, in my heart, that I wanted to protect this little boy,” she said. She then reportedly turned to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)—the far-right, anti-abortion group that helped kill Roe—for legal support. Now, she’s claiming Gilkar and Ahmed were trying to coerce her into having an abortion—something they both deny. A court hearing for the case has been set for the end of the month.

The already messy case is sure to continue on—though it’s not clear exactly what role Paxton will play going forward. But clearly… he hasn’t learned his lesson of staying in his own lane.

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