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Abortion organizations sponsored by Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” tour will no longer distribute emergency contraceptives at the singer’s concerts.
Organizers say Variety that after extensive media attention, local abortion funds were informed Thursday afternoon that they were no longer allowed to hand out free emergency contraceptive pills and other reproductive health resources at concerts.
According to three local abortion fund sources, that decision came from Rodrigo’s team and was broadcast via Slack by the National Abortion Fund Network, which partnered with the pop star to set up booths at each of the stops. their North American tour. Jade Hurley, communications manager for the DC Abortion Fund, says the NNAF said Rodrigo’s team preferred not to hand out lube, condoms and Plan B because “children are present at the concerts.”
“The reality is that young people are having sex and need access to birth control and emergency contraception,” Hurley says. Variety about the phone. “What we’re doing is completely legal in all 50 states.”
A representative for Rodrigo did not immediately respond to VarietyRequest for comments.
Destini Spaeth, president of the Prairie Abortion Fund, which will have a booth at Rodrigo’s concert on March 15 in St. Paul, Minnesota, disagrees with the decision, saying Variety“There’s something really positive about a 16- or 15-year-old girl having a Plan B and some condoms on her dresser to use when she needs them.”
He continues: “The tools of sex and sexual health, whether abortion, Plan B or condoms, are villainous because you are (seen as) promiscuous. We don’t see it as a sign of responsibility. … If children are not getting the education they need in school, they can at least rely on the reproductive health organizations in their communities to get that information and resources to them.”
While the organization was explicitly prohibited from distributing Plan B, lube and condoms at Rodrigo’s concert on Friday night, Spaeth says the Prairie Abortion Fund will continue in full force disseminating informational materials, as well as hats, buttons and stickers .
Local funds had been distributing sexual health resources on the “Guts” tour since at least March 8 in Charlotte, North Carolina, but the initiative made global headlines after a photo of the free pamphlets, distributed by Right by You and Missouri Abortion Fund at Rodrigo’s. Saint Louis show, went viral on X/Twitter.
The initiative received a largely positive response, but, as with all things abortion, it also sparked a swift reaction from conservative pundits. For one, Breitbart News tweeted about Rodrigo“Funny how Disney Channel produces so many high priestesses of child sacrifice.”
Addressing concerns about children’s exposure to sexual health resources, says Right by You founder Stephanie Kraft Sheley. Variety“The idea that we have not been thoughtful or careful in carrying out our work on this event, or any event, is simply incorrect.”
Sheley says speaking to young people at community events is quite common for Right by You and other abortion funds, which are “deeply familiar with our own communities and what they need in terms of information and resources.”
“Our position is that it doesn’t hurt a young person to see us in the community doing that work,” he adds. “None of that pearl clutching happened before our eyes at this event, and it never does. It was very normal to see a younger child curiously approach his parents and ask them to explain what is on the table and why we are here. … We will not allow children to reach out and grab things off the table that are not for children.”
Hurley notes that much of the backlash against the funds is based on false information. “It’s disappointing that extremists are causing a moral panic over something they don’t even understand,” Hurley says. “They don’t know the difference between emergency contraception (like Plan B) and the abortion pill, which are two completely different things.”
He adds: “Extremists are purposefully combining the two to restrict access and shame children into not getting the resources they need. … Their agenda is simply control and power over autonomy, and they always go after the young first.”
Despite the decision, organizers praise Rodrigo for supporting abortion funds and other reproductive health organizations through his Fund 4 Good initiative, especially in states where abortion is banned or severely restricted.
“Nothing I say about this particular decision takes away from our intense gratitude that Olivia has given us this platform and visibility. I think it is extraordinary and necessary, and I hope that others will follow her example,” says Sheley.
Others remain hopeful that Rodrigo’s team will change course.
“I love that Olivia has taken this public stance,” Spaeny says. “We just need our allies to support everything. We need you to support everything so we can do our work. We cannot be given these parameters. “We are the experts in this.”
The funds associated with the “Guts” tour are clear that it was their decision, not Rodrigo’s, to distribute emergency contraceptives at their concerts.
“Missouri Abortion Fund and Right by You were invited to participate in Olivia Rodrigo’s event in St. Louis, but it was our decision to hand out EC,” writes Robin Frisella, community engagement director for the Missouri Abortion Fund, in a statement to Variety. “While we are disappointed to learn that other abortion funds will not have the same opportunity to do the same, we are encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response. “We can’t explain why this decision was made, but we hope this conversation highlights the work abortion funds do across the country.”
Other organizations are finding different ways to reach the community, such as the DC Abortion Fund, who tweeted Before Rodrigo’s concert on July 20 in Washington DC, “Little do these decision makers know: we have no problem handing out Plan B, for free, on the public sidewalk outside the venue.”
Hurley says, “We will continue to do our job regardless of whether we can do it at Capital One Arena.”