The Missouri Abortion Fund was on hand at singer Olivia Rodrigo’s concert in St. Louis on Tuesday to give out stickers and other items to concertgoers regarding abortion access, including QR codes asking the question “Funding Abortion? It’s a good idea, right?” Doses of “Julie” emergency contraception were also distributed. Similar items were given away during her stop in Charlotte.
UPDATE, 3/15/24: After receiving significant backlash, emergency contraceptives, lubricant, and condoms will no longer be distributed at Olivia Rodrigo’s concerts. Variety reports:
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. Jade Hurley, the communications manager for the DC Abortion Fund, says the NNAF said Rodrigo’s team preferred they no longer pass out lubrication, condoms and Plan B because “children are present at the concerts.”
Of course, Rodrigo’s team likely already knew that children were to be expected as attendees at her concerts, but didn’t expect such backlash. The abortion organizations responded by saying that minors should be receiving these items, and some still plan to attend to hand out “information materials as well as hats, buttons and stickers” to promote themselves to the attendees, including minors (brand recognition is powerful, and they know it). Those whom Variety interviewed blamed “conservative pundits” and others for the backlash, as those who “villainize” “sex and sexual health tools — whether that be abortion, Plan B, [or] condoms… because you’re [seen as being] promiscuous.”
Distributing such items to minors, however, assumes that most minors are having sex or will soon have sex, despite the fact that some of them aren’t even old enough to legally consent to it. Sex is not a children’s recreational game; the fact that it has been treated as if it is has led to significant societal damage and a tremendous loss of preborn human life. This isn’t about promiscuity; it’s about recognizing that sexual activities involve significant risk — risks that minors are in no way prepared to take, physically or emotionally.
