Amicus

Amicus: Is the Burden Undue?

A newly balanced Supreme Court considers the impact of Texas’ restrictive new abortion regulations. Also … Clarence Thomas speaks.

Listen to Episode 39 of Slate’s Amicus:

Subscribe in iTunesRSS feedDownloadPlay in another tab
Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed.

The Supreme Court’s week got off to a historic start last Monday, as Justice Clarence Thomas unexpectedly asked a question during oral arguments for the first time in more than 10 years. Two days later, the court heard arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, its first abortion case in nine years. It asks whether the impact of a pair of abortion clinic regulations in Texas places an “undue burden” on women who choose to have an abortion, and in so doing, violates the central holding of 1992’s Planned Parenthood v Casey. On this week’s episode, we discuss the latest abortion case with legal scholar Pamela Karlan and listen to some of the highlights from the raucous oral arguments.

Amicus is sponsored by Casper, an online retailer of premium mattresses for a fraction of the price. Casper mattresses come with free delivery and returns within a 100-day period. And get $50 toward any mattress purchase by visiting Casper.com/amicus and using the promo code AMICUS.

And by Amazon. Detective Harry Bosch is back on the new season of Amazon’s original series Bosch, based on the best-selling novels by Michael Connelly. Stream the new season on March 11 on Amazon Prime Video.

Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members. Consider signing up today! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today here.

Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com.

Podcast production by Tony Field.