Join us Tuesday, January 28 for a very special and timely Crucial Conversation:

The Supreme Court takes on abortion and LGBTQ equality

in March, the U.S. Supreme Court – newly stocked with Trump appointees – will consider Louisiana’s latest stringent abortion law in a case with the potential to all but outlaw abortion in that state and embolden anti-abortion activists across the U.S. whose ultimate goal is to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Indeed, various states passed 59 new abortion restrictions in 2019, setting the stage for an extraordinarily volatile year for reproductive freedom in 2020. The high court may ultimately make the final ruling, but the battle for abortion rights is likely to be fought mostly at the state level.

And while the Court appears to unwilling at this time to threaten marriage equality position as the law of the land, Supreme Court justices are also still expected to hand down precedent-setting decisions for LGBTQ rights as they consider whether employers have the right to terminate someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Justices seemed divided during arguments in 2019, but the pending cases before the high court could be just as impactful for the LGBTQ movement as Obergefell’s 2015 validation of same-sex marriages.

Join us January 28 as we examine these critical cases with two of North Carolina’s foremost advocates for freedom.

Tara Romano is executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice NC. Prior to joining the organization 2016, Tara worked for women's rights in a variety of venues, including as a community activist for victims of domestic and sexual violence, a member of North Carolina Women United‘s Wake County Women’s Agenda Assembly, and the NC Women United board, where she was served as president of the organization from 2013 to 2017.

Kendra Johnson is executive director of Equality NC, which she joined in May 2018. She previously worked to advance fairness and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as the State Director for the Human Rights Campaign. Kendra also founded the first lesbian/bi-sexual support group at Spelman College and volunteered communications services for Brazil’s first historically Black college. She currently serves as the Board Chair for Southerners on New Ground (SONG), the largest grassroots LGBTQ organization in the South.

Seats are sure to go fast – don’t miss this very important event!