Idaho Abortion ‘Trafficking’ Ban Draws Skepticism From 9th Cir.

Two Ninth Circuit judges at oral argument Tuesday seemed skeptical that Idaho’s first-in-the-nation law prohibiting adults from helping minors get legal abortions can be upheld without an important modification.

Judge M. Margaret McKeown wondered if it could be saved from being declared an unconstitutional content-based regulation of truthful speech by removing the word “recruit” from a clause that prohibits “abortion trafficking” of minors by criminalizing recruiting, harboring, or transporting them for the purpose of procuring an abortion with the specific intent of concealing it from their parents.

McKeown posed hypotheticals to Joshua Turner, Idaho’s acting solicitor general, who defended the ...