I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome to We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate. The National Constitution Center is the only institution in America chartered by Congress to disseminate information about the

U.S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.

And on today's show we discuss one of the most hotly contested questions in constitutional law and that is the

Constitution and reproduction. We will discuss a major case heard by the Supreme Court

this week about abortion. It's called Whole Women's Health versus

Hellersted. The case is the first major abortion case the court has heard

since the passing last month of Justice Anton and Scalia and one of the most

important cases in the past few years. In Whole Woman's Health, the question is whether Texas House Bill 2, which passed in 2013, is consistent

with the Constitution as interpreted in cases such as Casey versus Planned Parenthood.

The Texas Bill regulated abortion clinics and doctors

and two provisions of the laws were challenged,

and those appeals are before the Supreme Court.

Joining us to discuss this very important case

are two of the leading scholars and experts in America

on the question of the Constitution and reproduction.

Clark Forsyth is currently Senior Council for Americans United for Life

and author of Abuse of Discretion,

the Inside Story of Rovi Wade, which was published by encounter books.

And Mary Ziegler is Stearns Weaver-Miller Professor at the Florida State University College

of Law, her latest book, After Row, The Lost History of the Abortion

Debate is available from Harvard University Press. Clark, Mary, thank you so

much for joining. Thanks, Jeff. Thanks for having us. Wonderful.

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