MILWAUKEE — The issue of abortion has polarized generations. Since the recent draft leak showing the potential decision for the Supreme Court to reverse Roe vs. Wade, Generation Z has braced themselves for the change in different ways.
In Wisconsin, abortions are currently legal for the first trimester and it has been this way since 1973. So for all Gen Z'ers, the ability to choose has always been a reality. But for Gracie Skogman, she learned early on this wasn't the future that she had hoped for.
Skogman works as the legislative impact director with Wisconsin's Right to Life.
"I was actually 14 when one of my dear friends in high school became unexpectedly pregnant and I watched her courageously choose life for her son who is now 10. Watching her go through that, both the struggles and the triumphs of that process, and now seeing her son and what a blessing he is, that is what awakened me," said Skogman.
She might be a step closer if Roe V. Wade is overturned. Wisconsin law would make abortions illegal in nearly all cases.
"We want women in Wisconsin to feel so supported whether that's healthcare resources, emergency housing grants, that they have all these other avenues to support them through potential difficult pregnancy that abortion isn't even on the table for them anymore," said Skogman.
On the other side, Isabelle Kiekhofer, a senior at Ronald Reagan High, joined hundreds of her classmates and peers in a school walkout protest Thursday.
"Finding out that in the 21st century women aren't going to have the ability to choose their own reproductive rights is crazy," said Kiekhofer.
On the cusp of graduating and ready to embark on her college experience, she wants to know that she's stepping into a future that makes her feel secure.
"When you're young and you're going to college, you experience making mistakes. Even going to college with the rate of rape that takes place on college campuses, having that option to get an abortion is really important. Being a survivor myself, it's something that I want so that I know that I have an option and I can stay safe " said Kiekhofer.
