The birth of a child is supposed to be one of the happiest moments of a parent’s life. In the case of McKenna West, it’s been a legal nightmare. After she was hired as a surrogate mother, West’s pregnancy became controversial when she fled to Texas out of fear of a forced abortion.
The dispute stems from a California couple enlisting an Alaska-based nurse, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/13/us/surrogate-texas-birth-surgery-hnk">McKenna West</a>, to be the surrogate for their child. That arrangement broke down when West fled to Texas, claiming the couple started pressuring West to have an abortion when their unborn child was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition. Texas Attorney General and Senate candidate Ken Paxton intervened on behalf of the child, who has since been born in Texas. However, a court-issued restraining order prevents West from seeing the child.
Differences in Texas and California abortion law are causing the legal dilemma. In <a href="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OHE/abortion/Pages/your-rights/your-legal-right-to-an-abortion.aspx">California</a>, the law states that abortion is legal up to the point of fetal viability or at any point if the mother’s life or health is at risk. In <a href="https://guides.sll.texas.gov/abortion-laws">Texas</a>, abortion is banned except in cases where the mother’s life is threatened. Thus, by going to Texas, West could not be forced to have an abortion, nor would Texas cooperate in any effort to return her to a state to undergo a procedure Texas bans. After all, Ms. West did not kill anyone. On the contrary, she fled to Texas to avoid that.
This type of legal conundrum is the inevitable consequence of the <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/supreme-court-strikes-down-roe-v-wade-upholds-mississippi-abortion-law/">overturning of Roe v. Wade</a> in 2022. The Supreme Court concluded it is up to the states to craft their own laws on abortion, with many states enacting restrictions or outright bans while others passed laws to ensure its legality. Despite the protections, people are finding ways around the bans. We are already seeing the rise of “abortion tourism”: cases of women leaving states where abortion is banned and going to states where it is legal.
Abortion has long been a source of controversy, but surrogacy is a more recent debate. For couples with fertility problems, surrogacy offers a path to becoming parents. Some surrogates are friends or family helping out a loved one, but the practice becomes more controversial when it becomes <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/surrogacy-unregulated-debts-profits-b9fdd987">commercialized</a>. There are now companies that set up potential parents with a surrogate at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars. Thus, people like Ms. West can make extra money at the cost of renting out their womb to a stranger who may not have the ability to get pregnant themselves.
Commercial surrogacy is rife with ethical criticisms, not least of which is the commodification of children, with thousands of dollars changing hands. Billboards around the country offer upwards of $50,000 to prospective surrogates. How a society treats children says a lot about it. So what does it say when children are effectively being sold, almost 200 years after that indefensible practice ended?
At the very least, there are risks to the children in surrogacy cases, especially if the child becomes unwanted at some point during the pregnancy, as we see in West’s case, linked to the sovereignty of the surrogate mother. If the biological parents want to abort the child, where does that leave the surrogate? This is especially true in cases where you have pro-choice parents but a pro-life surrogate. You cannot force someone to have an abortion, but that becomes complicated in cases like McKenna West.
If we are going to continue having paid surrogacy in this country, there needs to be stronger protections for surrogate mothers. Pro-life surrogates have to be protected from any attempts to force them into having an abortion. While forced abortion is illegal at the federal and state levels, it may be wise to clarify the law to include cases where the surrogate is not biologically related to the child they are carrying.
The unborn child needs protection as well. While SCOTUS returned abortion policy to the states, it has not commented on legal protections for surrogate children. If parents decide they don’t want the child, the unborn child should be treated as a child given up for adoption. Doing so protects the child’s life and the surrogate mother from any coercion.
The case of McKenna West is exposing some of the moral ambiguities surrounding surrogacy for pay. While some argue that paid surrogacy is inherently unethical, at the very least, protections are needed for both the child and the surrogate. Doing so benefits the unborn and the country as a whole.
***
<a href="https://www.joinyv.org/talent/matthew-cookson">Matt Cookson</a> is an alumnus of the Young Voices Contributor Program and was a Middle East History and Policy Fellow with Young Voices. He also works in the supply chain for a U.S. Defense Contractor. His commentary has appeared in the Mises Institute, RealClearPolitics, the National Interest, Providence Magazine, China Source, and the Idaho Freedom Foundation. You can follow him on X @<a href="https://x.com/MattCookson95">MattCookson95</a> and Substack @<a href="https://substack.com/@thewaythecookiecrumbles?utm_source=user-menu">thewaythecookiecrumbles</a>.

Mother holding sleepy newborn baby

How A Surrogacy Nightmare Exposed America’s Fractured Abortion Law Depravity

Abortion

DW Opinion

McKenna West

Pro-Life Movement

Surrogacy

A baby born with a severe heart defect is in critical condition as a bitter legal battle continues between a pro-life surrogate who refused to abort him and genetic parents who demanded the pregnancy be terminated.
The newborn, whom surrogate McKenna West named Gabriel and his genetic parents named Rumi, was placed back on a breathing tube after his condition deteriorated following open-heart surgery, according to court documents obtained by <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/08/25/surrogate-mckenna-wests-baby-gabriel-in-critical-condition/">TMZ</a>. 
In a Dallas courtroom Tuesday, the genetic parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed told a judge they were reeling after West defied their demand to get an abortion and traveled to Texas, where she sought legal protection and medical care for the baby.
“He’s our child,” Gilkar said, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/baby-surrogacy-mckenna-ivf-texas-heart-surgery-3df649dd00acd9fec8324687be557044">The Associated Press</a>, which reported that the California woman wiped away tears on the witness stand. Referring to the surrogate sitting across the courtroom, Gilkar added, “She’s unstable. She’s trying to take him from us.”
Jeff Domen, an attorney for West, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/baby-surrogacy-mckenna-ivf-texas-heart-surgery-3df649dd00acd9fec8324687be557044">repeatedly pressed</a> Gilkar about her desire to terminate the pregnancy after the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or HLHS.
“Would you trust somebody to care for your child that wanted your child dead?” Domen asked.
Gilkar said she did not know how to answer.
West, an Alaska nurse and single mother of two, delivered the baby earlier this month in the Dallas area after Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a court order requiring that he receive life-saving medical care. 
The baby was diagnosed at 20 weeks with HLHS, a serious congenital heart defect. West has said that after learning of the diagnosis, the genetic parents demanded that West travel to California to abort the child, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-comes-to-rescue-of-surrogate-mom-facing-pressure-to-kill-baby?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Red+State+Comes+To+Rescue+Of+Surrogate+Mom+Facing+Pressure+To+Kill+Baby">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported.
West told the judge she scheduled an abortion at 23 weeks at the couple’s urging but ultimately could not bring herself to go through with it. 
“I knew that this baby, despite the diagnosis, had a great chance at survival and a great chance at leading a long life,” West told the court.
West also described the “terrifying” prospect of undergoing an abortion.  
“It would have been a two-day procedure … they would have injected his heart with a solution that would stop it,” West <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/25/us-news/surrogate-mckenna-west-breaks-down-describing-abortion-procedure-at-over-20-weeks/">testified</a>, saying the baby would have been removed two days later. “It was terrifying.”
The <a href="https://dam.tmz.com/document/3f/o/2026/08/14/3fb808514e0747bca9785de19a7b2472.pdf">surrogacy agreement</a> at the center of the dispute contains a provision giving the genetic parents broad authority to request that West abort the baby.
The child later underwent <a href="https://x.com/LilaGraceRose/status/2089514128465649710?s=20">complex heart surgery</a>, the first of three surgeries needed to treat HLHS. Since then, the baby’s condition has taken a turn for the worse.
“He’s struggling to breathe … We have to watch him gasp for air and choke on tubes,” Gilkar said, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/25/us-news/surrogate-mckenna-west-breaks-down-describing-abortion-procedure-at-over-20-weeks/">New York Post.</a> 
Beyond the custody fight, the California couple is reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surrogate-baby-saga-takes-dark-new-turn-after-mom-chose-life?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=19&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Surrogate+Baby+Saga+Takes+Dark+New+Turn+After+Mom+Chose+Life">seeking a six-figure cash award</a> from West, accusing her of “malicious conduct” by refusing to terminate the pregnancy and breaching the surrogacy agreement. 
Gilkar and Ahmed have claimed they suffered emotional distress throughout the ordeal, which has captivated attention from pro-life activists and members of the Trump administration. 
West previously said having the baby could cost her up to $200,000 — a price she was willing to pay.
“This is my body, and I absolutely don’t want to go through this. Nothing was scarier than questioning my own soul and knowing what would happen to this baby boy,” she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-comes-to-rescue-of-surrogate-mom-facing-pressure-to-kill-baby?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=12&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Red+State+Comes+To+Rescue+Of+Surrogate+Mom+Facing+Pressure+To+Kill+Baby">told</a> Live Action. “His life doesn’t have a price tag on it. There’s nothing that they could try to come after me for that would be worth his life.”
The Dallas judge on Tuesday extended for another two weeks a temporary restraining order barring West from making medical decisions for the baby. The judge did not issue a final custody ruling.

Doctor used an Ultrasound  3d sonogram  monitor for  the fetus 22 weeks young adult patient pregnant

Baby Fights For Life As Genetic Parents Battle Surrogate Who Refused Abortion

California

life

News

Politics

pro-choice

surrogate

Texas

The biological parents at the center of an extraordinary surrogacy battle are suing the single mother who carried and gave birth to their child, accusing her of breaching their contract by refusing their demand to abort the baby after a treatable heart defect diagnosis.
The California couple is reportedly seeking a six-figure cash award from McKenna West, who gave birth to their baby last Wednesday in the Dallas area, accusing her of “malicious conduct” by refusing to terminate the pregnancy.
In the lawsuit, obtained by <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/08/19/mckenna-west-sued-for-misconduct/">TMZ</a>, Nausheen and Omar are asking a judge to award them more than $100,000 in damages from McKenna for allegedly breaching the surrogacy agreement, in addition to unspecified damages for what they called her “malicious, outrageous conduct.”
The Daily Wire reached out to Lee Budner, an attorney for the parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, for information on the lawsuit. Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action, <a href="https://x.com/LilaGraceRose/status/2090129426054803629?s=20">confirmed</a> reports of the suit Wednesday. It’s unclear when the lawsuit was filed and in what jurisdiction.
Nausheen and Omar reportedly claimed to have suffered emotional distress throughout the ordeal, which has captivated attention from pro-life activists to members of the Trump administration. The <a href="https://dam.tmz.com/document/3f/o/2026/08/14/3fb808514e0747bca9785de19a7b2472.pdf">surrogacy agreement</a> at the center of the dispute includes an abortion clause allowing the biological parents to demand an abortion at their discretion.
“Further, the Parties hereto, as stated above, agree that there shall be termination of the pregnancy for fetal abnormality as determined by a physician designated by the Intended Parents if the Intended Parents request termination of the pregnancy,” the agreement reads, according to TMZ.
At 20 weeks, the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a serious congenital heart defect that typically requires three staged surgeries. With treatment, babies have high survival rates into adulthood, according to <a href="https://www.nyp.org/pediatrics/heart/hypoplastic-left-heart-syndrome-hlhs/treatment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital</a>. That medical reality did not stop the biological parents from seeking an abortion,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-comes-to-rescue-of-surrogate-mom-facing-pressure-to-kill-baby?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Red+State+Comes+To+Rescue+Of+Surrogate+Mom+Facing+Pressure+To+Kill+Baby"> The Daily Wire</a> reported. West refused the abortion demand and fled to Texas to seek medical expertise in a state with a sweeping abortion ban. 
West named him Gabriel. The biological parents named him Rumi, a historical Persian name with Islamic roots.  
Earlier this week, a medical team <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/parents-who-wanted-surrogate-baby-aborted-agree-to-life-saving-heart-surgery?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Parents+Who+Wanted+Surrogate+Baby+Aborted+Agree+To+Life-Saving+Heart+Surgery">determined</a> that the baby was eligible for the Norwood procedure, the first of three surgeries typically performed on babies born with HLHS. Babies with the condition typically undergo a second operation at 4 to 6 months of age, <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12214-hypoplastic-left-heart-syndrome-hlhs">according</a> to the Cleveland Clinic. 
“Rumi is now recuperating under the loving care of his parents and his heroic team of doctors, nurses, and medical staff,” the family’s lawyer told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/parents-who-wanted-surrogate-baby-aborted-agree-to-life-saving-heart-surgery?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Parents+Who+Wanted+Surrogate+Baby+Aborted+Agree+To+Life-Saving+Heart+Surgery">CBS</a>. “This is the last update on Rumi’s health that his family intends to share. His condition remains critical and complex, and his family seeks privacy in caring for their son on his long road to recovery.” 
West previously said having the baby could cost her up to $200,000 — a price she was willing to pay.
“This is my body, and I absolutely don’t want to go through this. Nothing was scarier than questioning my own soul and knowing what would happen to this baby boy,” she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-comes-to-rescue-of-surrogate-mom-facing-pressure-to-kill-baby?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=12&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Red+State+Comes+To+Rescue+Of+Surrogate+Mom+Facing+Pressure+To+Kill+Baby">told</a> Live Action. “His life doesn’t have a price tag on it. There’s nothing that they could try to come after me for that would be worth his life.”
In other court filings, Gabriel’s biological parents accused West of initially agreeing to terminate the pregnancy before reversing course,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/couple-surrogate-claims-wanted-baby-aborted-break-silence-as-red-state-steps-in?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=11&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Couple+Surrogate+Claims+Wanted+Baby+Aborted+Break+Silence+As+Red+State+Steps+In"> The Daily Wire</a> reported. 
“It is undisputed that West initially agreed and that she herself made the initial appointment. She then unilaterally changed her mind, cut off all contact with A.B. and C.D., and withdrew medical releases allowing A.B. and C.D. to have contact with all medical providers,” the filing said.
A Dallas judge granted the biological couple’s request for a temporary restraining order against West and blocked her from making any medical decisions for the child she was carrying.
Lincoln Wilson, an attorney for West, told<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/12/texas-surrogacy-california-alaska-parental-rights/"> The Texas Tribune</a> that his client “is lawfully the parent because she gave birth to this child that she carries in Texas, then she should control custody as well.”
A court hearing is scheduled for August 25.

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Surrogate Baby Saga Takes Dark New Turn After Mom Chose Life

babies

ultrasound

Many of you have heard the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/parents-who-wanted-surrogate-baby-aborted-agree-to-life-saving-heart-surgery">story</a> of McKenna West. She is the surrogate mother who recently fought against the biological parents of the baby she was carrying in order to save his life. After discovering a heart condition at her 20-week ultrasound, the biological parents demanded an abortion. West refused. A literal fight for the baby&#8217;s life ensued. By the grace of God, West was successful. The baby she fought to carry to term has since been born alive and is receiving the care he needs.
There is one detail to this story, though, that didn&#8217;t make the headlines. It&#8217;s a seemingly small detail, but it stopped me in my tracks. And it&#8217;s quite likely one of the biggest reasons why baby Gabriel is here today: the quiet but profound actions of West&#8217;s brother.
In an <a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/surrogate-fights-baby-heart-condition-refusing-abortion">interview</a> with Live Action, West shared that after learning of the parents’ request to terminate the pregnancy, she felt overwhelmed. She knew she had signed a contract that included a termination clause. She was also a single mother in a difficult financial situation. She believed she had no choice but to follow the wishes of the baby’s biological parents.
That is, until she received a call from her brother. He knew she had been struggling with the decision to abort. He knew she did not believe it was right. And he didn’t believe it was right either. Without any biological connection to the baby in his sister’s womb, he offered to adopt the child. If that gave her a way out, he was willing to step up and raise a stranger’s baby as his own.
It was at that point in her retelling of the story that I got chills. He set one of the most beautiful and sacrificial examples of what it means to be truly pro-life. It was not just a slogan on social media or a “babies’ lives matter” sign at a march. Her brother embodied the cause by living it out.
He knew baby Gabriel’s life had value, and he was willing to do whatever he could to protect it. And in that circumstance, he found something he could physically do to save the baby&#8217;s life.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/akDI0X8229A?si=qGFScMmNd1Gazj6c" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
As of now, baby Gabriel is in the custody of his biological parents, not West&#8217;s family. But that offer from her brother gave West the courage and confidence to keep fighting and to find a way to save the baby.
The actions of West&#8217;s brother should be a lesson for all of us. If we believe in a mission or a cause that is bigger than ourselves, sometimes living that mission means taking action that costs us something. Sometimes it means getting involved in someone else’s crisis and being willing to carry a burden that is not ours.
His selflessness helped save a life, and it convicted me. What am I doing locally for moms who find themselves unexpectedly expecting? What am I doing for the woman who is scared after receiving a fetal diagnosis in an already fragile moment of her life? There are pregnancy centers in cities across the country that need help. They need volunteers. They need donations. They need people willing to show up and serve. They operate in a mission field that never stops, much like the role of parenthood itself.
We can learn a lesson from the actions of West&#8217;s brother and become the hands and feet of this mission. There is perhaps no stronger way to encourage the pro-life movement than to actively support not only the cause, but also the mother carrying the burden. Be the village these mothers need. Be willing to live out the pro-life message when the moment arrives.
***
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

GettyImages-1267369053

How One Brother’s Sacrifice Saved Baby Gabriel

Upstream

A baby with a heart defect at the center of an extraordinary surrogacy battle between a pro-life surrogate and biological parents, who sought an abortion, has undergone his first life-saving surgery.
The child, whom his parents named Rumi, underwent <a href="https://x.com/LilaGraceRose/status/2089514128465649710?s=20">complex heart surgery</a> Monday to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a serious congenital heart defect that typically requires three surgeries.
Lee Budner, an attorney for the parents Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, said a medical team determined that the baby was eligible for the Norwood procedure, the first of three surgeries typically performed on babies born with HLHS. Babies with the condition typically undergo a second operation at 4 to 6 months of age, <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12214-hypoplastic-left-heart-syndrome-hlhs">according</a> to the Cleveland Clinic. 
“Rumi is now recuperating under the loving care of his parents and his heroic team of doctors, nurses, and medical staff,&#8221; the family’s lawyer told CBS. &#8220;This is the last update on Rumi&#8217;s health that his family intends to share. His condition remains critical and complex, and his family seeks privacy in caring for their son on his long road to recovery.” 
The surgery comes after the biological parents who sought to abort the baby following its HLHS diagnosis, the latest twist in a stunning surrogacy battle that has drawn attention from pro-life advocates<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-steps-into-surrogates-fight-for-newborns-life-saving-care?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Steps+Into+Surrogate%E2%80%99s+Fight+For+Newborn%E2%80%99s+Life-Saving+Care"> to the Trump administration.</a>
McKenna West, a single mother of two, delivered the baby last Wednesday in the Dallas area after Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a court order requiring him to receive life-saving medical care. She named him Gabriel.
At 20 weeks, the baby was diagnosed with HLHS. West has said that after learning of the diagnosis, his biological parents demanded that West travel to California to abort the child,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-comes-to-rescue-of-surrogate-mom-facing-pressure-to-kill-baby?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Red+State+Comes+To+Rescue+Of+Surrogate+Mom+Facing+Pressure+To+Kill+Baby"> The Daily Wire</a> previously reported.
“So we were all really upset. It was completely unexpected. Everything had been going great,” West, who became pregnant through IVF, told<a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/surrogate-fights-baby-heart-condition-refusing-abortion"> Live Action News</a>. “I was full of fear and stress of what they were going to choose. I was feeling pretty confident that they were going to choose termination, and how could I possibly live with myself going through that?”
West refused the abortion demand and fled to Texas, where abortion is mostly illegal, and the state law recognizes the woman who carries and gives birth to a child as the “gestational mother.” 
Most surrogacy contracts include provisions giving the intended parents a say in whether to terminate a pregnancy.<a href="http://surrogate.com/"> Surrogate.com</a> says surrogates cannot be forced to undergo an abortion, but refusing to comply with a contractual agreement could carry “financial and legal consequences.”
West says having the baby could cost her $200,000 — a price she was willing to pay.
“This is my body, and I absolutely don’t want to go through this. Nothing was scarier than questioning my own soul and knowing what would happen to this baby boy,” she told Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action. “His life doesn’t have a price tag on it. There’s nothing that they could try to come after me for that would be worth his life.”
In court filings, Gabriel’s biological parents accused West of initially agreeing to terminate the pregnancy before reversing course,<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/couple-surrogate-claims-wanted-baby-aborted-break-silence-as-red-state-steps-in?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=11&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Couple+Surrogate+Claims+Wanted+Baby+Aborted+Break+Silence+As+Red+State+Steps+In"> The Daily Wire</a> reported. 
“It is undisputed that West initially agreed and that she herself made the initial appointment. She then unilaterally changed her mind, cut off all contact with A.B. and C.D., and withdrew medical releases allowing A.B. and C.D. to have contact with all medical providers,” the filing said.
A Dallas judge granted the biological couple’s request for a temporary restraining order against West and blocked her from making any medical decisions for the child she was carrying.
Lincoln Wilson, an attorney for West, told<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/12/texas-surrogacy-california-alaska-parental-rights/"> The Texas Tribune</a> that his client “is lawfully the parent because she gave birth to this child that she carries in Texas, then she should control custody as well.”
A court hearing is scheduled for August 25.

03472245-d5f3-4d06-86f8-c7c45e404491-1

Parents Who Wanted Surrogate Baby Aborted Agree To Life-Saving Heart Surgery

baby

Pregnancy

The Trump administration is stepping into the extraordinary surrogacy fight pitting a surrogate against a baby’s biological parents, warning hospitals that the child, who was born with a heart defect, must receive life-saving care as a tense legal battle unfolds.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) submitted a letter to Children’s Medical Center of Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center reminding them of their obligations to treat the child under federal disability civil rights law, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/hhs-warns-texas-hospitals-denying-life-saving-care-newborn-disability">according to Fox News.</a> 
HHS said federal disability protections bar doctors from withholding care because of a patient’s condition, including the belief that a disabled person’s life is less worthy or that their care would place a burden on others, the outlet reported.
McKenna West, a single mother of two children, delivered baby Gabriel Wednesday in the Dallas area after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a court order requiring him to receive life-saving medical care when his surrogate rejected demands from his biological parents to abort him.
At 20 weeks, Gabriel was diagnosed in utero with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) — a serious but treatable congenital heart condition that typically requires three staged surgeries. After learning of the diagnosis, his biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, demanded that West travel to California to abort the child, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-comes-to-rescue-of-surrogate-mom-facing-pressure-to-kill-baby?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Red+State+Comes+To+Rescue+Of+Surrogate+Mom+Facing+Pressure+To+Kill+Baby">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported.
“So we were all really upset. It was completely unexpected. Everything had been going great,” West, who became pregnant through IVF, told <a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/surrogate-fights-baby-heart-condition-refusing-abortion">Live Action News</a>. “I was full of fear and stress of what they were going to choose. I was feeling pretty confident that they were going to choose termination, and how could I possibly live with myself going through that?”
West refused the abortion demand and fled to Dallas, where she sought legal protection and access to doctors experienced in treating Gabriel’s condition.
Most surrogacy contracts include provisions giving the intended parents a say in whether to terminate a pregnancy. <a href="http://surrogate.com">Surrogate.com</a> says surrogates cannot be forced to undergo an abortion, but refusing to comply with a contractual agreement could carry “financial and legal consequences.”
West says having the baby could cost her $200,000 — a price she was willing to pay.
“This is my body, and I absolutely don’t want to go through this. Nothing was scarier than questioning my own soul and knowing what would happen to this baby boy,” she told Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action. “His life doesn’t have a price tag on it. There’s nothing that they could try to come after me for that would be worth his life.”
Gabriel’s biological parents are now speaking out through their attorneys, accusing Paxton’s office of turning the case into “political theater” through its legal actions.
“Our clients’ child was born earlier this morning and he is now receiving medical care provided by a team of pediatric experts,” attorney Lee Budner said in a statement to The <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/12/texas-surrogacy-california-alaska-parental-rights/">Texas Tribune</a>. “McKenna West’s baseless attempts to intervene in the child’s medical care have been soundly rejected by the courts.”
“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 him,” Budner added.
In court filings, Gabriel’s biological parents accused West of initially agreeing to terminate the pregnancy before reversing course, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/couple-surrogate-claims-wanted-baby-aborted-break-silence-as-red-state-steps-in?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=11&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Couple+Surrogate+Claims+Wanted+Baby+Aborted+Break+Silence+As+Red+State+Steps+In">The Daily Wire</a> reported. 
“It is undisputed that West initially agreed and that she herself made the initial appointment. She then unilaterally changed her mind, cut off all contact with A.B. and C.D., and withdrew medical releases allowing A.B. and C.D. to have contact with all medical providers,” the filing said.
A Dallas judge granted the biological couple’s request for a temporary restraining order against West and blocked her from making any medical decisions for the child she was carrying.
A California court ruled that Gilkar and Ahmed are the legal parents of the baby. But Lincoln Wilson, an attorney for West, said that his client “is lawfully the parent because she gave birth to this child that she carries in Texas, then she should control custody as well.”
A hearing is scheduled for August 25.

03472245-d5f3-4d06-86f8-c7c45e404491

Trump Admin Steps Into Surrogate’s Fight For Newborn’s Life-Saving Care

A baby with a heart defect at the center of an extraordinary surrogacy dispute was born after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stepped in to ensure the child received life-saving medical care when his surrogate rejected demands from the biological parents to abort him.
McKenna West, a single mother of two children and an Alaska nurse, decided to become a surrogate after hearing about a friend’s positive experience, believing it would allow her to earn extra income while helping another family have a child, according to <a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/surrogate-fights-baby-heart-condition-refusing-abortion">Live Action News.</a> In February 2025, she applied to a surrogacy agency, was approved, and was matched with a California couple she initially described as a “perfect match.”
That all changed when, at 20 weeks, Baby Gabriel was <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-paxton-fights-save-unborn-child-diagnosed-treatable-heart-condition-and-demands">diagnosed</a> in utero with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) — a serious but treatable congenital heart condition that typically requires three staged surgeries. 
After learning of the diagnosis, his biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, reportedly demanded that West travel to California to abort the child, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/12/us-news/surrogate-mckenna-west-who-refuses-to-abort-baby-despite-its-biological-parents-wishes-scores-early-legal-victory/">New York Post.</a> 
“So we were all really upset. It was completely unexpected. Everything had been going great,” West, who became pregnant through IVF, told <a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/surrogate-fights-baby-heart-condition-refusing-abortion">Live Action News.</a> &#8220;I was full of fear and stress of what they were going to choose. I was feeling pretty confident that they were going to choose termination, and how could I possibly live with myself going through that?&#8221;
West refused and fled to Dallas, where she sought legal protection and access to doctors experienced in treating Gabriel’s condition.
The vast majority of surrogacy contracts include provisions giving the intended parents a say in whether to terminate a pregnancy, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/02/surrogacy-contract-melissa-cook/463323">The Atlantic</a> reported. <a href="https://surrogate.com/surrogates/surrogacy-contracts/surrogacy-contracts-termination-pregnancy/">Surrogate.com</a> says surrogates cannot be forced to undergo an abortion, but refusing to comply with a contractual agreement could carry “financial and legal consequences.” 
West says having the baby could cost her $200,000 — a price she was willing to pay. 
“This is my body, and I absolutely don&#8217;t want to go through this. Nothing was scarier than questioning my own soul and knowing what would happen to this baby boy,” she told Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action. “His life doesn&#8217;t have a price tag on it. There&#8217;s nothing that they could try to come after me for that would be worth his life.”
<a href="https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?tab=1&amp;code=FA&amp;chapter=FA.160&amp;artSec=">Texas law</a> recognizes the woman who carries and gives birth to a child as the “gestational mother,” prompting Paxton’s office to intervene and ask the district court to enter orders directing the child’s care upon birth.
“The intended parents have refused to agree that they will consent to the life-saving surgery upon birth and may attempt to transport the child out of Texas to prevent treatment from being administered,” the attorney general’s office wrote. 
A district court <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/G%20Relief.pdf?utm_content=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_name=&amp;utm_source=govdelivery&amp;utm_term=">granted</a> Paxton’s petition, ordering that “upon the child’s live birth, medically indicated stabilizing and life-sustaining care shall be provided to the child pending further order of this Court.” No person shall withhold, direct the withholding of, obstruct, or delay that care,” the order stated. 
Paxton’s office also notified UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas of what he described as their legal obligations to provide Gabriel with life-saving care. In a letter to the hospitals, Paxton said physicians have an independent legal duty to treat Gabriel regardless of how the parentage dispute lands in court.
“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. “Every child in our state deserves to be cared for and protected, and that’s exactly what I’ll fight for.” 
Lawyers for biological parents, who did not commit to providing their child with life-saving care, have not commented publicly on the surrogate’s legal victory. According to <a href="https://www.nyp.org/pediatrics/heart/hypoplastic-left-heart-syndrome-hlhs/treatment">NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital</a>, children diagnosed with HLHS who undergo treatment have roughly a 72% chance of surviving to age 5. Those who reach their first birthday have about a 90% chance of living to age 18. 
Live Action reported Wednesday that Baby Gabriel is “on the path” to receiving the life-saving care he needs, though a temporary restraining <a href="https://x.com/LilaGraceRose/status/2087604817850208749">order</a> is preventing West from seeing the baby. The next phase of the legal battle over custody will likely play out in California court, while a <a href="https://www.givesendgo.com/help-mckenna-fight-for-baby-gabriels-lif?utm_source=sharelink&amp;utm_medium=copy_link&amp;utm_campaign=help-mckenna-fight-for-baby-gabriels-lif">fundraiser</a> for West circulating online has raised tens of thousands of dollars to help cover the costs of saving the baby’s life.
&#8220;God has been so evident about it all in the ways He has connected me with people and surrounded me with people who love Him and love life and are completely willing to stand beside me as I go through this,&#8221; West told Live Action.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
UPDATE: Baby Gabriel is here!
McKenna gave birth after courageously refusing the contracting parents’ demand that she abort him because of his serious but treatable heart condition.
Heartbreakingly, a temporary restraining order issued yesterday prevented McKenna from seeing or… <a href="https://t.co/y41ZvMN3Au">pic.twitter.com/y41ZvMN3Au</a>
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) <a href="https://x.com/LilaGraceRose/status/2087604817850208749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Red State Comes To Rescue Of Surrogate Mom Facing Pressure To Kill Baby

Dallas

Ken Paxton

A crowd erupted with joy as the Democratic governor of Massachusetts signed into law a “barbaric” new law allowing mothers to end the lives of their unborn children up until the point of birth. 
The law signed by Governor Maura Healey on Monday removes the state&#8217;s 24-week abortion restriction and allows a doctor to greenlight an abortion up until just before the baby is born. As Healey signed the legislation, a group of supporters cheered and clapped in support of the new law, paving the way for ending the life of full-term babies. 
“We&#8217;re a state with some of the strongest abortion protections in place,” she said. “And yet, you&#8217;ll hear from folks about some things that just weren&#8217;t in the right place in terms of making sure that women and couples and families had access to the care that they need, particularly those who experience complications late in pregnancy.”
Late-term abortions <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/the-reality-of-late-term-abortion-procedures/">often include</a> a gruesome process where the baby is fatally poisoned in the womb and then delivered dead. They can also involve an abortionist crushing and dismembering a baby before its delivery. At full-term, most babies weigh around seven pounds, have fully developed organs, and have a layer of fat to stay warm. 
The law easily skated through both the Democrat-controlled state Senate and House. An abortion after 24 weeks may now “be performed by a physician based upon the professional judgment of the physician,” according to the law. 
In pushing for the legislation, Democrat Representative Christine Barber, the sponsor of the legislation, said that abortion “should be between a doctor and a patient.”
Healey’s signing of the law was met with immediate backlash from pro-life advocates. 
“Legalizing elective abortion up to birth on healthy mothers and healthy, pain-capable unborn children is not about protecting the doctor-patient relationship,” Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Myrna Maloney Flynn said. “It is about abortionists normalizing the deaths of fully-developed infants and pressuring vulnerable women to permit their unborn children to die in heinous acts of violence.”
“These abortions represent among the most severe human rights abuses permitted in only a few places around the world, including China and North Korea,” she added. 
The SBA Pro-Life America condemned the law as “barbaric.” 
“It should shock the conscience that tens of thousands of unborn Americans are barbarically dismembered limb by limb and torn apart every single year,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Without a minimum national standard, the United States remains 1 of only 8 countries worldwide that allows abortion at any point in pregnancy.”
Other states with similar laws include Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Vermont, New Jersey, and Maryland.

3D foetal ultrasound scan

WATCH: Crowd Laughs As Dem Governor Allows Abortion Until Birth

Massachusetts

maura healey

Social Issues

The Trump administration will pay seven-figures to a Christian father whose home was raided nearly four years ago by heavily armed FBI agents as part of former President Joe Biden’s crackdown on peaceful pro-life protesters. 
The settlement between pro-life advocate Paul Vaughn and the Justice Department is a remarkable reversal after the father of 11 once faced over a decade in prison due to the charges brought by Biden&#8217;s DOJ. The settlement was announced Tuesday by the Thomas More Society, a religious liberty law firm that represented Vaughn throughout his battle with the federal government. 
Vaughn’s Centerville, Tennessee, home was raided by gun-toting FBI agents in October 2022 over his involvement in a March 2021 protest that included praying and hymn singing at a local abortion facility. As several FBI agents corralled his children getting ready for school, other agents took Vaughn into custody in a dramatic show of force. 
“From the very moment that I was handcuffed and put in the back of the car, they showed me on their screen that it was a FACE Act violation, I knew from that moment on that it was political. But I knew something more than that,” Vaughn told The Daily Wire in an interview. “I knew that it was God telling a story, and that it wasn&#8217;t my story, and therefore, the responsibility wasn&#8217;t me. And so I trusted in Him.”
The FACE Act is a Clinton-era law used overwhelmingly against pro-life protesters if they are seen as impeding access to an abortion facility. Under Biden, prosecutors paired it with the hefty conspiracy against civil rights charge that could bring a prison term of more than 10 years. 
Pardoned alongside nearly two dozen other pro-life advocates by President Donald Trump in January 2025, Vaughn sued the government for its heavy-handed prosecution of him. The settlement includes the DOJ admitting it abused its power and concludes the suit. 
Documents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-imprisoned-by-biden-responds-to-doj-shakeup-i-want-to-come-to-some-firing-parties?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Pro-Lifer+Imprisoned+By+Biden+Responds+To+DOJ+Shakeup%3A+%E2%80%98I+Want+To+Come+To+Some+Firing+Parties%E2%80%99">recently released</a> by the DOJ showed officials discussing the optics of arresting the defendants rather than allowing self-surrender. In one email, Biden official Sanjay Patel wrote that the “unspoken reason” the FBI was going to stage dramatic arrests rather than allow self-surrender was because “the FBI really likes to make arrests.”
Vaughn, who ended up being sentenced to six months of house arrest, said the ordeal strengthened his faith and Christian convictions. 
“The important thing that we have is we have a duty to walk humbly, to love justice, and to seek mercy,” he told The Daily Wire. “Regardless of whether there&#8217;s people trying to write injustices or whether people that are trying to persecute and cause more injustice are Christian responsibilities the same.”
Steve Crampton, a lawyer with the Thomas More Society who defended Vaughn, praised the Trump administration&#8217;s handling of Biden’s pro-life prosecutions. He noted that it would not surprise him if other settlements between pro-lifers and the Justice Department were announced in the coming months. 
He told The Daily Wire that the DOJ under Trump was “genuinely interested in trying to right the wrongs of previous administrations” and “trying to do what they can to restore some respect for the rule of law.”
The DOJ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-biden-partnered-with-abortion-activists-to-track-and-imprison-pro-lifers?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=BREAKING%3A+How+Biden+Partnered+With+Abortion+Activists+To+Track+And+Imprison+Pro-Lifers">released emails</a> earlier this year showing how closely Biden officials worked with abortion activists to snoop on and prosecute pro-life advocates. Pro-abortion organizations provided dossiers to the Biden DOJ with personal information and pictures of pro-life activists who were not yet charged with any crimes, but were later arrested by the FBI.
&#8220;I think there&#8217;s no question that this was a politicized prosecution of Paul and the others,” Crampton added. “This was a vindictive set of prosecutions meant purely to punish and deter pro-lifers from ever going back out again.”
Crampton said that Congress needed to act to repeal the FACE Act. The House Judiciary Committee approved a repeal of the FACE Act last year, but the legislation has stalled out. 
“That is an abhorrent law, it is without constitutional support for its passage in the first place,” he said. “And it is a horrific weapon that can and probably will be used again to cudgel pro-lifers in the future if we don&#8217;t take care of it now.”
While noting that the settlement was a big win, Crampton said the Biden prosecutions reminded Americans of their need to stay vigilant about government overreach. 
“We can never go to sleep,” he said. “If we don&#8217;t watch the ones that are watching us effectively, our federal overseers, then we have no one to blame but ourselves.”

MixCollage-30-Jul-2026-06-19-AM-4498

Christian Father Who Faced Armed FBI Raid Gets Big Payout From Trump Admin

Department of Justice

FACE Act

Joe Biden

Religious Liberty

Trump Administration

Despite countless red flags, leftist activists continue to send out abortion pills indiscriminately all across the country. 
An <a href="https://aaplog.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.06.05-INVESTIGATIVE-REPORT-June-22-2026-at-16.18.01.pdf">investigation</a> shared with The Daily Wire by the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs found that activist group Aid Access shipped pills to an investigator from the group posing as a 13-year-old girl who had three prior C-section births. The pills arrived in Indiana after investigator Dr. Christina Francis ordered the pills for a patient with a complicated medical history to see how the organization would respond. 
“What this investigation uncovered is far from anything that could be called healthcare,” the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs (AAPLOG) wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire Thursday, sent to top Republican lawmakers. “In fact, it should be considered medical malpractice.”
Restrictions around the mailing of the abortion pill mifepristone were loosened during the Biden administration, meaning pills can be sent out without an in-person appointment. That decision, still in place, occurred as abortion via pill cemented itself as the most common method to end the life of an unborn child. Pro-life activists have urged the Food and Drug Administration to reinstate those guidelines. 
While filling out an Aid Access pill intake form, Francis listed several conditions, including being on blood thinners, having an intrauterine device, and a history of ectopic pregnancy. Those conditions did not deter Aid Access, and pills arrived four days after Francis ordered them. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Undercover Online Abortion Pill Investigation" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ls9V29J-qqU?start=84&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Francis found that Aid Access sent her the pills with no identity verification, confirmation of pregnancy, or any medical consultation despite <a href="https://aidaccess.org/en/">claims</a> on its website that it would have a medical professional review a medical questionnaire answered by those looking for pills. 
“To test the level of medical review and due diligence, we intentionally put red flags in our answers with several contraindications so ridiculous any one of them should have been a hard stop for a physician conducting an in-person screening and informed consent. However, we were shockingly allowed to complete the process,” AAPLOG told lawmakers. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1136671" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-15-at-2.06.44-PM.png" alt="" width="822" height="525" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-15-at-2.06.44-PM.png 822w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-15-at-2.06.44-PM-300x192.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-15-at-2.06.44-PM-768x491.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 822px) 100vw, 822px" />Within minutes of filling out her form, Francis received a follow-up email with payment information and no indication that anyone had reviewed the medical information. 
“The intake process did not include a live consultation with a medical professional (such as what would happen with a telehealth visit). Even an asynchronous review of the user’s health information did not occur as the payment link was emailed less than 2 minutes after request submitted,” the investigation found. 
The pills were sent from a generic address in California to Indiana, where medication abortions are technically against the law. Aid Access, which says it ships abortion pills into all 50 states, did not respond to a request for comment. 
AAPLOG warned that the process enabled young children to easily access the deadly pills as well as those who might want to secretly coerce abortions. Several men across the country have been charged with forced abortions via abortion pills they ordered online. 
The investigation was sent Thursday to Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, as well as Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Rep. James Comer (R-KY). 
AAPLOG urged them to use their “power and purview to restore common sense and basic safeguards for abortion pill distribution as a first step to protect our maternal and fetal patients.”

US-JUSTICE-RIGHTS

‘Medical Malpractice’: The Glaring Red Flags Abortion Activists Ignore

Abortion Drug

For my entire life, my birth mom was an idea. I knew the outline of her story since I was 13: a young woman, alone, far from home, who made an impossibly hard decision so that I could exist. I didn&#8217;t know her face. I didn&#8217;t know her voice. I didn&#8217;t know if she was still alive to ask.
Last October, recovering from a health scare and finally forced to slow down, I sat down with my laptop and went looking for my biological family again. My wife found an old obituary — one of my birth mom&#8217;s sisters — which led to more names, and eventually a phone number for her last surviving sister, Carol. I waited nearly a week before I found the nerve to call.
She picked up. I introduced myself – heart pounding – and the call ended abruptly before I&#8217;d even finished the question. The cellphone call failed, so I called back. This time, she stayed on the line.
I confirmed with her that my birth mom had passed away years earlier, but that in 1971, she had a baby. That baby was me.
What followed was an hour I&#8217;ll never forget. My birth aunt had raised my birth mom herself, as a teenager, taking in her own younger sisters when their home fell apart. She told me my birth mom had grown up 20 minutes from my childhood home, went to my rival high school, ran track, and sang in chorus. We had many things in common.
Carol told me my birth mom had left Pennsylvania lonely and joined the military. And she told me, finally, what actually happened there: my birth mom had been raped, and weeks later, was certain she was pregnant. She&#8217;d already decided, long before she came home, that she would place me for adoption rather than raise me — not because she didn&#8217;t want a child, but because she was afraid the circumstances of my conception would keep her from loving me the way she believed I deserved to be loved.
She never would have aborted me, I was told. She loved children too much for that.
It took decades, plus a one-hour-long phone call, to finally confirm the story I&#8217;d carried in fragments since I was a kid. Later that same night, I pulled up an old archive of high school yearbooks and started narrowing down the years she might have graduated. Two years came up empty. The third didn&#8217;t. And there she was — a senior portrait of the beautiful and resilient woman who had been faceless and nameless to me for my entire life.
I&#8217;ve spent years standing in front of audiences insisting that every unplanned life has purpose, that circumstances of conception don&#8217;t get to determine anyone&#8217;s worth. It&#8217;s a different thing to turn that lens inward, and after a lifetime, look at the actual face of the woman who proved it true about my own life. Nobody handed her an easy version of that choice. She made it alone, in circumstances no one would ever want, and it reshaped a family she’d never get to meet and grandchildren she’d never know.
Through Carol and subsequent miraculous moments, I gained a lot more family in a matter of a single weekend.
There&#8217;s always room for more. Love doesn&#8217;t have a max quota. I used to think my family&#8217;s story ended with the 13 kids I grew up with, biological and adopted, woven into one home. I know now it just keeps expanding. And because of the love my birth mom gave me by rejecting abortion, that expansion never really stopped. It just kept happening quietly, out of view, until one phone call brought it forward.
I don&#8217;t know how many more women are out there like my birth mom, women who made a devastating yet courageous decision decades ago and never got to see what became of their child. I’m a living testament to my birth mom’s resilience. It became a marriage, four kids, and a ministry built on the conviction that every life has inherent and equal worth. It also resulted in an unexpected phone call that would finally illuminate a life slogan in real time: everyone is wanted by someone.
***
This is an adaptation from Ryan Bomberger’s new memoir, <a href="https://shouldhavebeenaborted.com/portfolio/thebook/">Should Have Been Aborted</a>.
Ryan Bomberger, co-founder of The Radiance Foundation, is an Emmy Award-winning creative professional, public speaker, and columnist. He was the first of 10 adopted in a diverse family of 15. Ryan is the author of the brand new autobiography, “<a href="https://shouldhavebeenaborted.com/portfolio/thebook/">Should Have Been Aborted</a>.” His books also include “Not Equal: Civil Rights Gone Wrong,” and the children’s books, “He is He” and &#8220;She is She.”

Mother holding hands with child and illustration of house on blue background, top view. Adoption concept

My Birth Mom Was Raped But Didn’t Abort Me. It Took Decades To Hear Why.

Adoption

Four years after the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling ending the bloody legacy of Roe v. Wade, pro-life activists struggle to confront a new challenge that has proved just as difficult: mail-order abortion pills.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe, many activists believed that states would be empowered to end abortion without the interference of the federal government. Now pro-life leaders say federal regulations and state shield laws are allowing leftist activists and organizations to flood states — where medication abortion is technically illegal — with abortion pills. 
&#8220;We find that the abortion drug has usurped the sovereignty of those states, and that people like Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, and Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, are determining policy for pro-life states, to the extent that now 15,000 children a month are dying, in pro-life states that have strong pro life protections,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said during a Tuesday call attended by The Daily Wire. 
“That is the definition of failure,” she added. 
While red states responded to Roe with trigger laws prohibiting doctors from administering abortions, blue states enacted so-called “shield laws” designed to protect those who illegally ship abortion pills across the country from prosecution. 
Medication abortions, which are the most common abortion method, are facilitated by a woman taking mifepristone and misoprostol. After a pregnant woman takes mifepristone, the unborn child is cut off from the nutrients it needs to survive and is effectively starved to death. Misoprostol is then taken to induce labor and expel the deceased baby from the mother. 
A previous Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-leftist-networks-flood-red-states-with-risky-abortion-pills-with-no-consequences">investigation</a> found that leftist activist groups send foreign-made abortion pills into states with the only requirements being an address and some form of payment online. One <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ordering-abortion-drugs-is-as-easy-shopping-on-amazon?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Abortion+Drugs+Now+Arrive+As+Fast+As+An+Amazon+Package">recent study</a> from the Charlotte Lozier Institute identified eight online pill providers that use so-called shield laws to ship pills into states where medication abortion is technically illegal. 
Many pro-life leaders say the problem could be greatly addressed if the FDA rescinded a Biden-era policy that allowed abortion pills to be dispensed through the mail. The FDA is currently conducting a safety study of the abortion pill and said it won’t adjust policy while the study takes place
Dannenfelser has urged the Justice Department to settle a lawsuit filed by the state of Louisiana against the FDA’s abortion policy. The suit says that the FDA&#8217;s policy prevents Louisiana from enforcing its restrictions on medication abortions. 
“There is a record of this administration certainly challenging injustice, and running straight towards the battle,” she said. “That&#8217;s the kind of courage that we&#8217;ve come to see and desire.”
A spokesman for the Justice Department told The Daily Wire that it asked the judge to give the FDA more time to review its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for the abortion drug. 
“On behalf of the FDA, the Justice Department has requested more time from the court for the FDA to complete its review of mifepristone REMS, ensuring our federal health agencies can change their policies without judicial interference,” the spokesman said. “As the Supreme Court recognized in a unanimous ruling less than two years ago, it is the role of the FDA — not the federal courts — to evaluate drug safety data and impose appropriate precautions.”
Largely fueled by the availability of the abortion pill, some estimates indicate that abortions have actually <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/despite-dobbs-more-babies-are-still-being-aborted-in-the-united-states">increased</a> since Dobbs. 
“No, we&#8217;re killing more babies today,” said Bob Vander Plaats, president of the Iowa-based Family Leader, when asked if the pro-life movement is better off than it was four years ago. “We&#8217;re being more creative in how we kill more babies than they were.”
He said that they used to be worried about people traveling out of state to Illinois for abortion but that now the “abortion destinations [are] in your mailbox.”
Grappling with the problems of the abortion pill, some pro-life leaders say the overturn of Roe also created problems for the Left that should not be ignored. 
Shawn Carney, the CEO of 40 Days for Life, said that pro-abortion activists now have to make the case for abortion as a positive good and cannot hide behind Supreme Court precedent.  
“They just had to say, ‘It&#8217;s the Supreme Court, it&#8217;s the law of the land, and that&#8217;s it,’” he told The Daily Wire. “So when Dobbs got rid of Roe, they had to start talking about abortion, and that hasn&#8217;t gone well because they&#8217;ve never had to do that. They never had to have any kind of basic talking points on why abortion is good, what it is as a surgery, how it operates.”
Recently, Rep. Brandon Gill <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rising-gop-star-presses-abortion-advocate-to-name-favorite-method-of-murdering-babies">went viral</a> for exposing the brutal nature of abortion during an exchange with a pro-abortion advocate who repeatedly refused to answer when asked about her preferred method of abortion. 
“The left has never had to articulate why abortion&#8217;s good, and now that they have to, because it&#8217;s state by state, they can&#8217;t,” Carney said.
Carney did say that the mail-order abortion was the largest challenge for the pro-life movement. 
“The mail order abortions, which was started under Biden during COVID, that is the biggest problem right now that we face &#8230; because we don&#8217;t know who&#8217;s getting these pills. We don&#8217;t know how they&#8217;re using them,” he said. 
“We&#8217;re sending these two pills that are designed to kill a baby to just some random apartment. We have no idea who gets it. They don&#8217;t have to sign for it,” he added. 
He also said that the pro-life movement should not underestimate the opportunities to work in deep blue states. While they can’t change laws on the ground, they can change minds and hearts, Carney said. 
Carney also praised President Donald Trump as the most “pro-life president ever” and said he thought criticism of the president’s approach to the issue was “over the top” and “unprofessional.” 
Trump appointed the Supreme Court justices who overturned Dobbs and has taken numerous actions to cut off federal funding for abortions. During his first week back in office, Trump issued pardons to nearly two dozen pro-life activists who were targeted by the Biden administration. 
“This Department of Justice remains committed to advancing President Trump’s pro-life agenda, including through dismissing criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits against peaceful pro-life advocates targeted by the previous administration, and using the FACE Act to protect pro-life pregnancy centers,” a DOJ spokesman told The Daily Wire. 
Some elected Republicans at the state level are embracing a new approach that involves criminalizing abortion for all involved, including the mother. Laws in states like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-bill-would-classify-abortion-as-murder">Tennessee</a> and South Carolina were proposed this past legislative cycle that would treat abortion as murder.
These kinds of laws, which are opposed by traditional pro-life groups, are supported by groups like the Foundation to Abolish Abortion which says they are the only guaranteed way to end abortion. Foundation to Abolish Abortion President Bradley Pierce told The Daily Wire that laws aimed at going after suppliers were not enough. 
“These abortion regulations cannot be enforced against the established supply chain of abortion pills from overseas, and cannot be reliably enforced domestically unless and until the Supreme Court makes a decision regarding shield laws,” he said. “That is why lawmakers must establish equal protection for preborn babies, applying the laws against homicide within their own jurisdictions against every willful participant in abortion.”
Pierce said that “abolition” bills “deter both the supply and demand of abortions” and are the Christian approach to ending abortion. He says his group will continue to work with state lawmakers on drafting similar legislation. 
“In order to advance abolition bills, we are recruiting and educating state lawmakers, providing them assistance as they draft and introduce equal protection legislation, and making the case for abolition in the public square,” he said. “Other abolitionists across the country are also launching and growing grassroots efforts to elect more Christian lawmakers who champion equal protection.”
While Democrats campaigned heavily on restoring Roe in 2022 and 2024, public opinion is roughly unmoved, <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/711401/dobbs-lasting-impact-abortion.aspx">according</a> to Gallup polling. Recent numbers show that roughly 49% of Americans want abortion to be legal in only a few cases (32%) or illegal in all (17%) cases while 48% say abortion should be legal in all (33%) or most (15%) circumstances. 
In 2025, over half of Americans (51%) identified as pro-choice, including 61% of women and 41% of men. In comparison, 43% of Americans said they were pro-life, including 54% of men and 32% of women.

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