The Trump administration has warned a Texas hospital that it must take care of a newborn with a severe heart defect or face the consequences.
The case involves Gabriel, the child of Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, a California couple who’d recruited a surrogate, McKenna West, to give birth.
But when Ahmed and Gilkar discovered a couple of months ago that their then-unborn baby had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, they asked West to get an abortion, according to CBS News. West refused and instead traveled to Texas, a red state, to give birth to Gabriel on Wednesday.
In addition, as the case began to receive national attention, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened by securing a court order requiring that Gabriel receive life-saving medical care after birth.
I secured an emergency court order ensuring that baby Gabriel receives life-saving care in Texas. pic.twitter.com/Yv84BFoFi7
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) August 12, 2026
“The court has made the right decision in immediately acting to protect baby Gabriel’s life and ensure he receives the care he deserves,” Paxton said in a statement. “My office utilized every tool at our disposal to protect life, and we will not back down in continuing to support baby Gabriel’s well-being.”
However, the Trump administration is now also intervening.
“The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights [said] it is sending a letter to Children’s Medical Center of Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center outlining their obligations under federal disability civil rights laws as doctors make treatment decisions involving baby Gabriel,” according to Fox News.
Ahmed and Gilkar, for their part, have claimed that they never intended to deny care to their baby if and when it was born. They’ve also lashed out at Texas for intervening in their case.
“Our clients’ son was born yesterday morning and he is now in their physical custody while he receives expert medical care at a tertiary care center,” their attorneys said in a statement. “Thankfully, McKenna West’s baseless attempt to interfere with his medical care has been soundly rejected by the courts. Right now, our clients are 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.”
“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. Our clients’ only focus at this time is ensuring that their baby receives the medical care that he vitally needs and that they, as his parents, are able to spend every precious moment they can with their beautiful newborn son,” they added.
Notice how they attacked West, the woman who effectively saved Gabriel’s life, by accusing her of “interfer[ring] with his medical care.”
Many conservatives have begun praising West as a hero for saving Gabriel’s life:
McKenna West is a hero in my book. She saved this baby’s life, and I am praying she gets to keep baby Gabriel. That baby cannot go back to the California couple who wanted him dead. Surrogacy is weird and unnatural in the first place, so I default to a simple logic: Your womb,… https://t.co/Gg9HynVZUw
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) August 13, 2026
West is now trying to obtain custody of Gabriel. For the time being, she’s not allowed to see Gabriel because of court orders sought by his parents.
According to The Texas Tribune, her relationship with the actual parents went sour after they demanded she get an abortion.
“She described it as fear because basically she was going to be asked to do something to the child that she carried that was fundamentally offensive to her, and she couldn’t imagine ending the life of the child that she carried inside her,” her attorneys said.
ADF Senior Counsel Erik Baptist spoke out today regarding the “Baby Gabriel” case in Texas:
“It’s an honor and privilege to represent McKenna in her courageous stand for Baby Gabriel’s life. Every life matters. No woman should be forced to kill the baby she is carrying, and… pic.twitter.com/zmsaytD2RA
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) August 12, 2026
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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