Ken Paxton demands protection for surrogate and unborn child with birth defect

Healthcare Ken Paxton demands protection for surrogate and unborn child with birth defect Comments: by Finya Swai - 08/11/26 5:15 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 08/11/26 5:15 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has intervened in a Dallas County surrogacy case involving an unborn baby with a severe heart defect, seeking to ensure the fetus receives life-saving medical treatment after birth despite objections from his intended parents.

The unborn child, who Paxton’s office referred to as “baby Gabriel,” was diagnosed in utero with hypoplastic left heart syndrome — a congenital condition in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped and unable to properly pump blood throughout the body.

After learning of the diagnosis, Paxton said baby Gabriel’s intended parents — who live in California — demanded their surrogate terminate the pregnancy. The surrogate refused to have the abortion and traveled to Texas, he said, where she sought protection and access to doctors with experience treating the condition.

“Baby Gabriel deserves a chance at life, and I will not allow anyone to unlawfully deny him medically necessary care,” Paxton said in a statement Tuesday. “My office will use every tool available to protect innocent lives and ensure that every child receives the care required under Texas law.”

Texas law prohibits almost all abortions, including in cases of rape or incest, but has narrow exceptions for “situations in which the life or health of the patient is at risk.” Doctors in the state can also face felony charges if they perform the procedure — the penalty including jail time, loss of one’s medical license and fines of up to $100,000.

Paxton’s office said the unborn child was diagnosed with the condition at 20 weeks and is expected to be born “imminently with a serious but treatable heart condition.”

Baby Gabriel’s doctors recommended the Norwood procedure, which is the first of the three after-birth surgeries that are the standard treatment for the condition, according to a letter Paxton’s office sent to two hospitals in Dallas.

Paxton’s office also alleged that the intended parents refused to give consent for the procedures and may seek to transport baby Gabriel to California to prevent doctors from performing them.

Paxton has asked the 301st Judicial District Court in Dallas County to issue orders providing for baby Gabriel’s medical care after birth and preventing his potential removal from Texas.

Paxton’s intervention comes nearly three years after he fought to prevent Texas woman Kate Cox from having an emergency abortion after her unborn child was diagnosed with trisomy 18, a fatal chromosomal condition also known as Edwards syndrome.

Cox ultimately fled the state to terminate the pregnancy after the Texas Supreme Court blocked a lower court order that would have allowed her to receive an abortion.

The state severely tightened its anti-abortion laws in 2022, following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade — which ended constitutional protections around the procedure.

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