January 22, 2026

8pm ET

REGISTER HERE

Session Overview

In an era where laws and politics increasingly interfere with the patient–clinician relationship, healthcare professionals are often forced to navigate painful ethical gray zones. When the System Says No brings together leading voices in medicine, law, and ethics to explore how clinicians can uphold their duty to care—even amidst challenging environments.

This powerful discussion will move beyond the rhetoric of “choice” to examine the moral and human realities of providing reproductive and essential healthcare under restriction. Panelists will share personal stories, legal insights, and strategies for maintaining compassion and professionalism in the face of fear, confusion, and punitive legislation.

Whether you are a clinician, medical student, policymaker, or advocate, this conversation will challenge and inspire you to reaffirm the values that define medicine itself: empathy, integrity, and the unwavering commitment to put patients first.

This meeting is symbolically being held on Jan. 22, the 53rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Speaker: Lara Hart, MD

Lara R. Hart, MD (she/her) is an obstetrician-gynecologist in private practice and Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, where she also serves as Campus Lead for Women’s Health. Board-certified in OB/Gyn, Dr. Hart brings over a decade of clinical experience alongside a strong commitment to medical education, reproductive health policy, and women’s health equity. Her scholarship includes ongoing research examining pregnancy outcomes in the pre- and post-Dobbs era, and she is a frequent national speaker and media contributor on abortion access and reproductive healthcare in Georgia. Dr. Hart’s work centers on advancing evidence-based, ethical, and equitable reproductive care through teaching, advocacy, and community engagement.

Speaker: Lauren Fine, MD

Lauren Fine, MD, FACEP is a Clinical Associate Professor at Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine, Core Faculty for the Emergency Medicine Residency at Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC), and a Fellow at the Texas A&M Institute for Healthcare Access. Dr. Fine earned her B.A. in Medical Ethics from Brown University and her M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.  She completed her emergency medicine residency at Alameda County Medical Center in Oakland, California, where she served as chief resident.  Nationally, she works with the Doctor Lawyer Alliance for Emergency Care, Access Bridge, and FemInEM to advance evidence-based management of early pregnancy complications in emergency departments and to build common-ground solutions that reduce preventable morbidity and mortality.

Speaker: Alyssa Morrison

Alyssa Morrison (she/her) works as the Reproductive Justice Staff Attorney and in-house expert on reproductive health policy at L4GG. Prior to joining L4GG, Alyssa spent 5 years working in constitutional impact litigation at the federal level with the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America (CLCMA). In her role at CLCMA, Alyssa’s practice was focused on challenging racial and religious discrimination in federal trial and appellate courts across the country. Alyssa is admitted to practice in the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeal and is a member in good standing with the Texas State Bar. Alyssa holds a B.A. from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from SMU Dedman School of law, where she received the Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Clinic for Victims of Crimes Against Women scholarship for her work with asylum seekers and refugees at the Karnes City ICE Detention Center and as a student attorney with YMCA International Services.  Alyssa brings her passion for individual liberty and her experience in constitutional law, civil rights and advocacy with her to L4GG.

Speaker: Rabbi Emily Langowitz

Rabbi Emily Langowitz is a member of the Religious Community for Reproductive Choice’s board of directors and the Vice President of Social Action and Advocacy for the Women’s Rabbinic Network. She has taught and published extensively on a progressive framework for discussing Judaism and abortion. In her professional work, she serves as the Executive Director of the Women’s Leadership Institute.

Emily is a graduate of Yale University and was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2017 where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a Tisch Rabbinical Fellow. Later, she served Phoenix’s Temple Solel as their Assistant Rabbi for three years and then worked for the Union for Reform Judaism as Assistant Director of Engagement and Learning. She is a proud member of the Phoenix Jewish community.