Abortion Rights Groups Will No Longer Hand Out Emergency Contraceptives on Olivia Rodrigo’s Tour
Abortion Rights Groups Will No Longer Hand Out Emergency Contraceptives on Olivia Rodrigo’s Tour
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- Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) March 15, 2024
A follow up to this post.
Abortion organizations hosted at Olivia Rodrigo‘s “Guts” tour will no longer be distributing emergency contraceptives at the singer’s concerts.
Organizers told Variety that after widespread media attention, local abortion funds were told Thursday afternoon that they were no longer allowed to hand out free emergency birth control pills and other reproductive health resources at the concerts.
According to three sources at local abortion funds, that decision came from Rodrigo’s team and was relayed over Slack by the National Network of Abortion Funds, which partnered with the pop star to set up booths at each of her North American tour stops. Rodrigo’s team cited that “children are present at the concerts.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone, the Missouri Abortion Fund said that while Rodrigo invited the groups to have a booth at the arena, “It was our decision to pass out EC.”
“While we are disappointed to learn that other abortion funds will not get the same opportunity to do the same, we are encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response,” Robin Frisella, Missouri Abortion Fund’s Community Engagement Director, told Rolling Stone. “We can’t speak to why this decision was made, but we hope this conversation highlights the work being done by abortion funds every day in states across the country. We stand by our decision to hand out EC and will be increasing our efforts to provide this to our community.”
Destini Spaeth, chair of the Prairie Abortion Fund, which will have a booth at Rodrigo’s March 15 concert in St. Paul, Minn., strongly disagrees with the decision, telling Variety, “There is something really positive about a 16- or 15-year-old having a Plan B and a few condoms in her dresser to use as she needs it. Sex and sexual health tools - whether that be abortion, Plan B, condoms - are villainized because you’re [seen as being] promiscuous. We don’t look at it as a sign of responsibility. … If the kids aren’t getting the education that they need in school, at least they can rely on reproductive health organizations in their communities to get that information and resources to them.”
While the organization was explicitly prohibited from distributing Plan B, lubricant and condoms at Rodrigo’s concert Friday night, Spaeth says the Prairie Abortion Fund will still be out in full force disseminating informational materials as well as hats, buttons and stickers.
Rodrigo’s team and several abortion rights groups did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment at press time.
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