Young leader helps build abortion rights movement among Gen Z

Haley Lickstein has been a reproductive rights activist since high school, and has partaken in social media campaigns at the Democratic National Convention and elsewhere.

A new generation of leaders has emerged among Gen Z in response to politicians and antiabortion leaders launching an unprecedented onslaught against reproductive rights.

Haley Lickstein, an activist in the reproductive rights movement since high school, is one of them. During a conversation I had with her, she emphasized the significant impact of abortion bans on young people, particularly in college decisions and relationships.

“While maybe it's not being covered as much, young people are really mobilized around this issue,” Lickstein said. “I've spent a lot of time talking to students on college campuses. Abortion bans are really impacting the way that students are even thinking about where they're going to college.”

Lickstein highlighted the role of social media in democratizing young voices and humanizing reproductive rights issues. She recommends Gen Z leaders educate themselves about state policies, follow relevant social media accounts, and discuss reproductive experiences with peers.

“Social media has really democratized young people's voices and given them an opportunity to share their stories and perspectives,” she said. “We're seeing young women be able to share their reproductive rights or abortion stories with their peers.”

She said that humanizes people who find themselves in situations where they’re considering abortion. It also connects them with circles of people who are in their position or agree with them politically.

I asked her about her thoughts on the Democratic Party and its treatment of Gen Z. I had sensed that their views had sometimes been marginalized and valued only insofar as their social media reach.

She pointed to the Democratic convention and the involvement of young leaders like herself and Olivia Julianna, whom I interviewed several years ago. They embedded about 200 content creators.

“A lot of those content creators did have diverse opinions and opinions that conflict with the platform of the Democratic Party,” Lickstein said. “And so I would say that I think there is progress being made, steps being made that aren't necessarily being recognized when it comes to welcoming in some new and younger faces.”

Leaders my age and older need to recognize that abortion is primarily an issue that affects young people. Like the second-wave feminists, they bring their sensibilities and intelligence that should be treated in an egalitarian fashion.

“It's a generation of women of reproductive age, or who are approaching reproductive age, having to make decisions about their body, starting a family, starting relationships, in a landscape where being pregnant is an extreme risk that you're taking,” Lickstein said.

“It can't be understated what kind of impact that's going to have on women and women's lives.”