Idaho can enforce abortion ban in medical emergencies, court rules

Idaho can fully enforce its near-total abortion ban after a U.S. appeals court lifted a lower court order that had partially blocked it. A unanimous panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the state ban on abortion, which includes a narrow exception for abortions that are necessary to prevent the mother's death, does not conflict with a federal law on emergency care. The panel put on hold a lower court judge's order blocking the ban in cases where a doctor deems an abortion necessary to prevent serious jeopardy to the mother's health.