The US Supreme Court has refused to intervene in a custody dispute involving a surrogate who refused an abortion request from the parents who hired her to have their baby.
Justice Elena Kagan declined an emergency appeal filed by McKenna West asking the court to halt a previous ruling granting parental rights to the California couple.
The parents had asked West to abort the pregnancy after a scan at 20 weeks showed the foetus had a severe heart defect. West instead went to Texas where nearly all abortions are illegal and gave birth to the child.
The court’s decision leaves in place an earlier order that granted custody to the parents.
The BBC has contacted lawyers for both parties for comment.
West has been seeking custody over the baby, which was born last month with hypoplastic left heart syndrome – a defect where the left side of the heart cannot pump enough blood to the body.