Olivia Rodrigo's team won't allow free contraceptives to be handed out on tour anymore, says report
Free contraceptives will no longer be handed out at Olivia Rodrigo's North American tour dates.
One abortion fund told Variety the decision was relayed from Rodrigo's management team.
It follows the distribution of Plan B pills at the singer's show in Missouri, where abortions are illegal.
The remainder of Olivia Rodrigo's Guts tour will no longer feature reproductive rights groups handing out free emergency contraceptives, lube, and condoms following the widespread media attention brought on by her recent Missouri show, according to reports.
The Grammy-award-winning pop star, who has partnered with the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) for her latest tour, has allowed local rights groups to set up booths at venues on the North American leg of her tour since it kicked off in February.
However, according to Variety, after news of free morning-after pills that the Missouri Abortion Fund distributed at her St. Louis show went viral this week, the singer's management team has requested that future reproductive rights groups refrain from giving out emergency contraceptives at the upcoming shows.
free planb at @oliviarodrigo in st. louis tonight 💓 thank you @MOAbortionFund ✨ pic.twitter.com/41sc65XxLx
— kin ⸆⸉ (@cowboylikekin) March 12, 2024
Jade Hurley, the communications manager for the DC Abortion Fund, relayed that Rodrigo's camp told the NNAF that they would prefer that lubrication, condoms, and contraceptives were no longer passed out because "children are present at the concerts."
A representative for Rodrigo and the NNAF did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider outside regular working hours.
Multiple representatives of other rights groups also confirmed the news to Jezebel. Speaking to the outlet, Destini Spaeth, chair of Prairie Abortion Fund, which attended Rodrigo's tour stop in Minnesota on Friday evening, said that they had hundreds of boxes of emergency contraception ready to hand out but no longer could.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, the Missouri Abortion Fund said that while Rodrigo had invited the groups to set up spaces in her concert arenas, "It was our decision to pass out EC."
Missouri has a near-total abortion ban
Robin Frisella, Missouri Abortion Fund's Community Engagement Director, told the publication: "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."
"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."
The news that contraceptives were being handed out at the concert in Missouri angered several Republican figures in Missouri, where there is a near-total abortion ban.
State senator Bill Eigel wrote on X he was "horrified" that Plan B was being given out to concertgoers and said that Rodrigo was "actively harming women in Missouri by championing abortion." He also mistakenly referred to the emergency contraceptive as an abortifacient.
As Business Insider previously reported, some Republican lawmakers in the state — including Eigel — are trying to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides reproductive healthcare such as birth control and STD testing.
Rodrigo has long been vocal in advocating for reproductive healthcare, notably dedicating a rendition of Lily Allen's "Fuck You" during her 2022 performance in Glastonbury, England, to the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade the day before.
A portion of Rodrigo's tour ticket sales will go to abortion funds across the US through the singer's Fund 4 Good initiative, which she launched in collaboration with the tour and advocates for reproductive healthcare freedom.
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