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.