Idaho Abortion Law Met by Sharply Divided Ninth Circuit (1)

The Ninth Circuit was bitterly divided Tuesday over whether federal emergency care laws override a near-total Idaho abortion ban, at times talking over each other while hearing a case that could clarify some state and federal divisions post-Roe v. Wade.

The oral arguments Tuesday in Pasadena, Calif. showed tensions on a bench that was once regarded as a bastion for liberal judges but contains a growing conservative contingent.

The panel of eleven judges will decide whether to uphold a district court’s preliminary block of an Idaho criminal law that bans abortions except when a woman’s life is at ...