The parents embroiled in a custody dispute with their surrogate have launched a fierce new legal attack on the woman who declined their request to terminate their gravely ill baby’s pregnancy.

Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar claim their surrogate, 28-year-old McKenna West, ‘fabricated’ an emergency and endangered the child’s medical care.

The allegations were laid out in a fresh filing before the US Supreme Court, where the bitter, multi-state fight over their five-week-old son has now reached the country’s highest court.

Lawyers for Ahmed and Gilkar accused West of mounting a ‘publicity tour,’ misrepresenting the baby’s healthcare and bringing legal claims that, they argue, could ultimately put his treatment at risk.

Their extraordinary response follows West’s request for the Supreme Court to pause a California ruling that recognized Ahmed and Gilkar as the legal parents of the critically ill newborn. The couple calls the baby Rumi, while West refers to him as Gabriel.

West carried the child as the couple’s gestational surrogate, but refused to end the pregnancy after prenatal testing revealed he had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, known as HLHS.

The potentially fatal congenital heart condition leaves the left side of the heart severely underdeveloped, disrupting normal blood flow. It typically requires several major surgeries beginning soon after birth, and even children who receive treatment may experience severe complications throughout their lives.

West is seeking custody or conservatorship, saying she fears the couple could deny the child lifesaving medical treatment.

Ahmed and Gilkar have vehemently rejected that allegation.

Their lawyers said in Friday’s filing that granting West’s requested emergency stay would ‘endanger rather than safeguard’ Rumi by throwing into doubt who has authority to approve his medical treatment.

‘McKenna West fabricated an emergency,’ attorney Adam Wolf said in a statement accompanying the filing.

‘If the Supreme Court were to grant the application for an emergency stay, it would threaten Rumi’s ability to receive necessary healthcare, further stacking the deck against him. It’s time to stop playing politics. A child’s life is at stake.’

The parents’ attorneys also turned their ire on West’s public campaign surrounding the extraordinary dispute.

‘While McKenna West has been conducting a publicity tour, Rumi’s parents have been quietly caring for their child and following the recommendations of Rumi’s medical team,’ attorney Lee Budner said.

Budner argued that putting the California parentage ruling on hold would not suddenly make West Rumi’s parent, but could create dangerous uncertainty for doctors.

‘A stay would not change who Rumi’s parents are,’ he said. ‘It would only create confusion over medical decision-making authority and jeopardize the providers’ ability to rely on the parents’ consent to Rumi’s treatment.

‘No parents should face such uncertainty and confusion regarding their child’s life.’

The escalating war of words follows months of extraordinary legal maneuvering stretching across California, Alaska and Texas.

West entered a gestational surrogacy agreement with Ahmed and Gilkar before the pregnancy.

But everything changed when Rumi was diagnosed in April with HLHS.

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Ahmed and Gilkar acknowledge that they initially wanted the pregnancy terminated following the devastating diagnosis.

West scheduled an abortion appointment but ultimately decided she could not 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 later told a Texas court.

The couple have denied forcing her to have an abortion and say that after she changed her mind they began preparing for their son’s extensive medical needs.

The relationship nevertheless collapsed.

West traveled from Alaska to Texas in July and eventually gave birth there on August 12. 

Ahmed and Gilkar rushed from California to Texas after learning she was going to be induced.

Rumi required intensive medical care from birth and has already undergone major heart surgery. 

Photographs released by his parents this week show the tiny infant surrounded by medical equipment with a surgical scar running down his chest.

At an emotional August court hearing, Gilkar broke down while describing her fight to become a mother following eight unsuccessful rounds of IVF and a hysterectomy.

‘He’s our child,’ she said through tears. ‘We’ve never wanted anything more than this baby.’

Gilkar also rejected West’s suggestion that the couple would deny their son lifesaving care.

‘Denying lifesaving care is not true,’ she told the court. ‘We are devastated.’

West has continued to argue that she should have legal authority to protect the child and has taken her fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

Her lawyers have argued that the California parentage judgment was imposed without adequate due process and that she was subsequently shut out of the Texas case concerning the infant.

Her Supreme Court application warned that without intervention, Ahmed and Gilkar could halt lifesaving treatment before the justices even had the opportunity to consider her case.

The parents have now turned that argument on its head.

Their attorneys say Ahmed and Gilkar have followed the recommendations of Rumi’s doctors and have been a constant presence at the hospital.

On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for the couple to take their son from Texas to Los Angeles, where they live, after concluding that the evidence did not cast doubt on their commitment to obtaining appropriate medical treatment for him.

West’s legal campaign has received backing from Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative Christian legal advocacy organization that has been involved in major legal battles over abortion, religious freedom and LGBTQ+ rights.

Meanwhile, Ahmed and Gilkar are pursuing a separate lawsuit against West in Alaska alleging breach of contract and emotional distress. Those allegations remain unresolved. 

Rumi’s parents have now launched a GoFundMe to help pay for surgeries, medication, therapy, hospital stays, travel and other costs associated with his treatment.

A woman accused of running one of the largest animal rescue failures in U.S. history could face nearly 25 years behind bars after authorities removed more than 300 dogs and cats from her Lake Hughes property.

Christine De Anda, 57, who operated Rock ‘N’ Pawz, was charged Friday with 35 criminal counts. The case includes 12 felony animal cruelty charges and two felony counts of grand theft of labor.

Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control officials said in March that they rescued an estimated 200 to 300 dogs and cats from cages at the property, where animals were allegedly being kept in filthy, unsanitary hoarding conditions.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges nearly six months after the rescue operation, describing the conditions encountered by responders as horrific.

Prosecutors said more than 300 animals were sick, injured or severely underweight. Some were allegedly suffering from starvation, dehydration and serious injuries that had gone untreated.

According to Animal Care and Control Director Marcia Mayeda, the animals were allegedly confined in cages soaked with urine and feces, conditions that left some with open wounds and infections.

Ammonia levels in the areas where the animals were housed were reportedly so overwhelming that rescue workers needed respirators to enter.

“What we found was deeply disturbing,” Mayeda said. “More than 300 animals were found in severely inhumane conditions.”

“They were ill, injured, emaciated, and in need of immediate medical attention and intensive care,” she added.

Mayeda said one dog was so severely matted and in such pain that workers had to sedate the animal before they could remove its hair.

Another was severely underweight when rescuers pulled it from the property. On Friday, the transformed pup stood alongside officials after nearly doubling its weight.

But some animals never made it out alive.

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One cat found dead on the property had suffered from starvation and dehydration, according to prosecutors.

Mayeda said other animals could not be saved because their illnesses and injuries were too severe.

Authorities added that warning signs had been piling up for years.

Neighbors complained about dogs barking, foul smells and trash piling up at the property, Hochman said.

Animal Care and Control and other regulators had visited the property, but De Anda repeatedly refused to let inspectors inside, authorities said.

“Ms. De Anda for years had refused entry,” Hochman said.

Witnesses eventually came forward with firsthand accounts of what they saw inside, helping investigators secure a search warrant, the DA explained.

They discovered mainly dogs and cats, but also a pig, rabbit, goose and two goats, prosecutors said.

Despite De Anda allegedly receiving years of citations and warnings about the conditions and number of animals at the property, prosecutors say she continued accepting animals she could not adequately care for.

“For someone who calls herself an animal rescuer, there’s a fundamental responsibility to protect and care for the animals entrusted to her,” Hochman said.

De Anda also faces 21 misdemeanor counts, including animal cruelty, code violations, failure to care for animals, failure to provide food and water, unsanitary conditions and operating a kennel without a license.

Her arraignment will be set for a later date. Prosecutors asked for her bail to be set at a staggering $914,500.

L’Oreal is facing a lawsuit from Arizona alleging that the cosmetics giant concealed evidence suggesting its hair relaxer products may raise cancer risks for women.

Arizona Attorney General Kristin Mayes filed the case Thursday against L’Oreal USA Inc., parent company L’Oreal SA and SoftSheen, a brand owned by the beauty conglomerate. Arizona is the first state to bring legal action over alleged cancer risks connected to chemical hair relaxers.

The complaint alleges L’Oreal violated Arizona consumer protection laws by selling and promoting the products without alerting customers to their alleged potential association with ovarian and uterine cancer.

Chemical relaxers are highly alkaline treatments designed to straighten textured or curly hair by breaking down and restructuring the bonds that determine a strand’s natural form. The products have historically been marketed largely to Black women, who are also their primary users.

According to the lawsuit, the relaxers contain potentially harmful substances, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals, phthalates, parabens and compounds categorized as known or probable human carcinogens.

“L’Oreal knew or should have known about the dangers associated with these toxic hair straightening products,” Mayes said in a statement, repeating an allegation outlined in the complaint.

“Yet, instead of warning their consumers, they put profits over the safety of women and children. That is unacceptable and we will hold them accountable for it,” she added.

Arizona is seeking damages and civil penalties, along with a court order that would require L’Oreal to place cancer warnings on the products or remove them from store shelves.

The lawsuit claims the cosmetics company “marketed and sold toxic chemical hair relaxers to women and girls of African descent while concealing the devastating carcinogenic risks associated with those products.”

‘In doing so, [L’Oreal] exploited centuries of social pressures and discriminatory beauty standards affecting people of African descent, all while prioritizing profit over consumer safety,’ the suit added. 

The products, sold under names including Dark and Lovely, advertise their ability to permanently straighten textured hair.

This is just one of thousands of lawsuits brought against the company by consumers who used its hair relaxer products. 

L’Oreal has faced more than 12,000 similar cases from women and their families, which are now bundled together in a Chicago federal court to handle the cases more efficiently.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, a company spokesman said: ‘L’Oreal’s highest priority is the health and wellbeing of all our consumers. Our products are subject to a rigorous scientific evaluation of their safety by experts who also ensure that we strictly follow all regulations in every market in which we operate.’

‘We are confident in the safety of SoftSheen-Carson’s products and believe the allegations made in this lawsuit have neither legal nor scientific merit,’ the representative added.

‘The study upon which this lawsuit is based recognized the need for further research and it made no finding of a causal connection between the use of those products and any conditions alleged by the plaintiffs.

‘Tellingly, while the study clearly states that “more research is warranted,” one of the lead researchers of the study has also acknowledged that there could be other potential contributing factors to the health outcomes,’ they concluded.

The first wave of lawsuits were filed after a 2022 National Institutes of Health study found that women who used the products several times a year were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer.

The lawsuits seek money for the women’s alleged pain and suffering, medical bills, product costs and other expenses. The cases are still moving through the courts, with trials potentially starting next year.

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Experts have long been concerned about the presence of the carcinogen formaldehyde in chemical hair-straightening and relaxing treatments, such as Keratin treatments and Brazilian blowouts.

And in a bid to see the long term health consequences of this chemical, researchers from Emory University in Georgia analyzed data from a long-term health study involving more than 50,000 US women.

The Sister Study enrolled participants who were between 35 and 74 years old, had no personal history of breast cancer, but had at least one sister who had been diagnosed with the disease.

Enrollment took place between 2003 and 2009, and participants were followed through September 2021.

For the final analysis, researchers included data from 46,287 women who were followed for an average of 13.1 years.

The study focused on cancers with at least 100 reported cases during the follow-up period and examined whether participants had used hair straighteners or relaxers in the 12 months prior to joining the study.

Use of these products was linked to significantly higher cancer risks. Compared to non-users, women who used hair straighteners or relaxers had a 166 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer, which is considered one of the deadliest forms of the disease because it lacks a specific screening test, making early detection difficult.

Women who used hair straighteners or relaxers also had a 71 percent higher risk of thyroid cancer and a 62 percent higher risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The risk increased further among frequent users – defined as using the products more than four times per year.

In this group, the risk of pancreatic cancer more than doubled, while thyroid cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma also showed elevated, though not statistically significant, risks.

The researchers also noted a possible link between straightener use and kidney cancer, though the association was described as ‘positive but imprecise’.

Formaldehyde, which is used as a preservative in hair products, can escape from them as a gas over time, a process known as ‘off-gassing’ – especially when they come into contact with heat.

If these fumes are inhaled repeatedly, they can lead to anything from minor side effects like eye and respiratory irritation to major health issues like an increased risk of head and neck cancers.

The American Cancer Society notes that in animal and human studies, formaldehyde has been linked to various forms of cancer, including in the nose, the upper throat and the stomach, and it has also been shown to increase the risk of leukemia.

A rideshare driver living in the United States illegally and accused of sexually assaulting a teenage passenger in Maryland has a prior history of alleged sex offenses in New York, according to federal authorities.

Abdoulaye Dia, of Lanham, Maryland, faces charges of first-degree rape, kidnapping, second-degree assault and a third-degree sex offense, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Montgomery County police were called to a hospital Tuesday after an underage girl reported that she had been raped. The teen told investigators that her alleged attacker was an Empower rideshare driver.

Dia, a citizen of Guinea, allegedly drove the girl to a parking lot in Silver Spring, where the assault was reported to have taken place.

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Investigators identified Dia using information from the rideshare app, and he was arrested Wednesday.

Dia was previously arrested in New York City on June 10 on allegations including sexual abuse by forcible compulsion, forcible touching of another person’s sexual or intimate parts, injuring a child younger than 17, and sexual abuse without consent, a DHS spokesperson told Fox News.

DHS said Dia entered the United States illegally through Arizona in December 2023 and was later released by the Biden administration.

News Media has contacted Empower for comment.