SAN DIEGO — No matter how you feel about it, the Supreme Court's decision sent shockwaves across the country and across generations.
CBS 8’s Keristen Holmes spent the day volunteering with Girls Inc. of San Diego County, a mentorship program serving diverse middle thru high school girls in San Diego.
Girls Inc. addresses issues like gender equity, self-esteem, body image and sexual health.
Christina Rioflorido goes to Morris High School and attended Girls Inc. summer program.
"I was really shocked," said Rioflorido. "I immediately was really scared,"
Alexa Tegelan, another student from Morris High School attending Girls Inc. summer program shared, "I really thought that after all of the rallies that happened over the past few months, they would take all of the backlash from the public and acknowledge it."
Samantha Redmon goes to Point Loma High School. She describes how she felt when she found out about the official ruling.
"I was on the way here," said Redmon. "And I think, just coming to a place like this where we're doing so much fighting for female empowerment, this just sets us back."
Girls Inc. inspires students, specifically girls, across San Diego to be strong, smart and bold with group activities, panels and speakers like the first Mexican American in space, Katya Echazarreta.
As we’ve covered the fallout from the leak draft opinion of Roe v. Wade to the final ruling on the decision, we found challenges to getting people who oppose abortion to go on camera.
The same is true for this younger group of women. Some of the students, who didn't want to speak on camera, say they consider themselves anti-abortion.
However, they say they believe every woman should have a choice about their bodies and their families.
Tegelan said still, she's confused that despite polls saying the majority of Americans want to protect abortion rights, Roe v. Wade was still overturned.
"America represents this country of freedom and justice and a lot of times, we don't even see that from them. We don't see that from our government."
"We're taking away the rights that women have," said Redmon. "It's not just affecting our generation, it's affecting future generations."
These young women say despite the ruling, they still have hope.
"If maybe we keep fighting and using our voices, then it's not going to die down and they actually have to do something about it," said Rioflorido.
"We need to speak up using platforms like Instagram, TikTok," said Redmon. "We have so many technological advancements to make a change using our voices."
WATCH RELATED: Roe v. Wade latest in San Diego: Reaction, protests, and what's next (June 2022)