- Free birth control pills will no longer be distributed on Olivia Rodrigo's North American tour dates.
- One abortion fund told Variety that the decision was communicated to Rodrigo's management.
- This follows the distribution of Plan B pills at the singer's show in Missouri, where abortion is illegal.
According to reports, reproductive rights organizations will no longer distribute free emergency contraception, lubricants and condoms to Olivia Rodrigo's Guts after her recent performance in Missouri garnered media attention.・It will not be held for the remainder of the tour.
The Grammy-winning pop star, who partnered with the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) on her latest tour, has been allowing local rights groups to set up booths at venues on her North American leg since the tour began in February.
However, according to varietyafter free news morning after pill Distributed by the Missouri Abortion Fund at her St. Louis show. It became a hot topic this weekthe singer's management team has asked prospective reproductive rights organizations to refrain from distributing emergency contraception at future shows.
Jade Hurley, public relations manager for the Washington D.C. Abortion Fund, said Rodrigo's camp told NNAF that they wanted to stop handing out lube, condoms and contraceptives because “there were children at the concert.” I told him.
Rodrigo and NNAF representatives did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider outside of normal business hours.
Several representatives of other rights groups also confirmed the news to Jezebel. Destini Spaes, president of the Prairie Abortion Fund, who attended Rodrigo's tour in Minnesota on Friday night, told the paper that they had hundreds of boxes of emergency contraceptives ready to distribute, but that they were no longer able to do so. said.
The Missouri Abortion Fund said in a statement to Rolling Stone that while Rodrigo called for groups to set up space in the concert arena, “it was our decision not to distribute EC.”
Abortion is almost completely banned in Missouri.
“While we are disappointed to learn that other abortion funds will not have a similar opportunity, we are grateful for the overwhelmingly positive response,” Robin Frisella, director of community engagement for the Missouri Abortion Fund, told the magazine. I'm encouraged,” he said.
“While we cannot speak to why this decision was made, we hope this conversation will focus on the work being done every day by abortion funds in states across the country. We support the decision and will step up our efforts to: “Deliver this to our community.'' ”
News that contraceptives were being handed out at a concert in Missouri infuriated several Republican officials in the state, where abortion is almost completely banned.
State Senator Bill Eigel I wrote to X that I felt scared. “By defending abortion, you are actively harming the women of Missouri,” Rodrigo said, noting that Plan B was being distributed to concertgoers. He also mistakenly referred to emergency contraception as an abortion pill.
As Business Insider previously reported, some Republican lawmakers in the state, including Eigel, are seeking to defund family planning programs that provide reproductive health care such as birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing.
Rodrigo has long been a vocal advocate for reproductive health, most notably during his 2022 performance at Glastonbury, England, in which he asked Lily Allen's “Fuck You” to tell the Supreme Court justices who had voted to reverse Roe v. Wade the day before. ” was dedicated to the performance.
A portion of Rodrigo's tour ticket sales will be donated to abortion funds across the United States through her reproductive freedom initiative, Fund 4 Good, which Rodrigo launched in conjunction with the tour.
