celeb news Olivia Rodrigo’s team reportedly won’t let abortion funds hand out Plan B or condoms

[GraceRandolph]

Olivia Rodrigo is helping raise money for abortion funds and inviting them to set up tables at U.S. stops on her GUTS tour, but multiple fund workers told Jezebel that, as of Wednesday, Rodrigo’s team will no longer let them hand out supplies like condoms, lube, or emergency contraception following news coverage of one show and concerns that children could access those items.

At the St. Louis show on Tuesday, the Missouri Abortion Fund partnered with Right by You to hand out condoms and emergency contraception. Someone posted a photo with the caption: “free planb at @oliviarodrigo in st. louis tonight 💓 thank you.” The post went viral, with more than 11 million views as of publishing, and the free birth control generated headlines in the U.S. andinternationally due to the singer’s celeb status, and the fact that Missouri has a total abortion ban.

The reaction was mostly glowing but there were a few right-wingers, including Missouri state senator Bill Eigel (R), who falsely claimedthat the morning-after pill is an abortifacient. (It’s not, it prevents pregnancy by blocking sperm from fertilizing an egg or preventing the release of an egg in the first place.) Eigel, we must note, is running for Governor.

Multiple sources told Jezebel that, the next day, the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) told member funds slated to table at future tour stops that Rodrigo’s management now prohibited them from distributing these supplies. The reason given was that the items would be too accessible to young girls in attendance. (Though, if they’re very young, presumably they’re not at the show without a chaperone?)

Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler, director of engagement for Carolina Abortion Fund, said the group handed out EC at the Charlotte, North Carolina, show on March 8 without issue. (A photo on their Instagram account shows a table with condoms and blue-and-yellow boxes of EC.) Orlovsky-Schnitzler said they gave out every single box they brought.

Destini Spaeth, chair of Prairie Abortion Fund, which will be at the St. Paul, Minnesota show on Friday night, told Jezebel that PAF had hundreds of boxes of EC ready to give away, but now it can’t bring them. “We are missing the opportunity to share our resources and this feels almost performative when we have actionable things, like EC, that we could hand out to young people who encounter so many barriers to care,” Spaeth said. Putting tangible resources in people’s hands “is community care and a huge part of what abortion funds do.” The fund will still be there with as many buttons, stickers, beanies, and resource pages as they can carry. “ just wish we could bring more,” Spaeth said.

A third abortion fund worker, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of professional retribution, told Jezebel that an NNAF staffer told funds via Slack on Wednesday that Rodrigo’s management said they couldn’t have EC, condoms, or lube at their tables. When people asked the staffer for clarification, they relayed that the singer’s management cited concerns about the items being out on tables at shows children were attending, as well as news coverage of the viral photo.

Jezebel contacted Olivia Rodrigo’s publicist, agent, and manager for comment, as well as NNAF, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.

Spaeth said PAF has tabled at Pride events, schools, local concerts, and more, and has never been told it couldn’t bring supplies like EC and condoms. She underscored that many abortion funds across the country give out free emergency contraception, with multiple access options including pick up, drop off, or shipping.

Back to the news coverage of the birth control: It often improperly credits the singer. “In the wake of the distribution going viral for [Missouri], we at CAF have been struck by how many outlets are framing this as ‘Olivia Rodrigo is giving out EC’ rather than the funds or mutual aid groups who actually brought the goods,” Orlovsky-Schnitzler said. “To be clear: We are extremely grateful Olivia Rodrigo is making such a public choice to bring abortion funds into her tour. It’s genuinely incrediblyawesome. It’s just been difficult for us to get a foothold in the conversation, and remind folks that they can—and should!—be donating to abortion funds.” She added that CAF only received a few direct donations to the fund at the March 8 show.

The anonymous fund worker said the tour was a fantastic opportunity to connect young people to resources, as that group can face the most barriers to access—which makes the singer’s decision all the more upsetting. “It’s frustrating to be told, ‘You can talk about the work you do but you can’t do any of that work,'” they said. “Yes, abortion funds fund abortion, but we also do a lot of other things. Every fund is a little different, responding to the needs in our unique communities. For a lot of us, that means we give out EC and condoms. It’s another way to support people at all stages of their reproductive life.”

 

Full article: https://www.jezebel.com/olivia-rodrigos-team-reportedly-wont-let-abortion-funds-hand-out-plan-b-or-condoms-at-shows-anymore

[Bussea]

 i’m tired of things like this being seen as taboo. and the excuse that “it’s too assessable to kids” is dumb. what child is at a concert alone and why is the adult that’s supposed to be there with them not doing their due diligence to make sure their 5 year old isnt getting their hands on plan b? give me a break

Edited March 15 by Cult Leader 𐕣𐕣

[loveisdead9582]

23 minutes ago, Cult Leader 𐕣𐕣 said:

not reading all that but that sucks. i’m tired of things like this being seen as taboo. and the excuse that “it’s too assessable to kids” is dumb. what child is at a concert alone and why is the adult that’s supposed to be there with them not doing their due diligence to make sure they’re 5 year old isnt getting their hands on plan b? give me a break

I get the plan b part but at the same time… the people passing them out need to make sure they give the recipients the run down on what it is and what it’s for. That said, who the **** is letting their children run around without supervision and hasn’t told their kids to not take drugs/pills from strangers? I’m sure that the Plan B itself is legal and safe but why would some young kid who wouldn’t know better be there without supervision?

[wehavetostan]

This is a bit disappointing but understandable given how violent anti-abortion groups can get (bomb threats, etc)

[JoJo]

That’s disappointing, but I’m assuming that Olivia’s lawyers advised her against this. She’s already being called the high priestess of child sacrifice by anti-abortionists, so safety for Olivia and concertgoers is now unfortunately a concern. 

[Credit]

concerns that children could access those items

 

Valid.

[qurl]

so they’d …… rather …. CHILDREN …. HAVE …. children ……

 

ok

[byzantium]

Honestly this is probably because of how right wing terrorists would make her concerts a target.  

[PoisonPill]

Ugh I wish she hadn’t backed down. She was this close to bad b*tch icon status.

[AMIT]

5 minutes ago, PoisonPill said:

Ugh I wish she hadn’t backed down. She was this close to bad b*tch icon status.

She already is one for doing it in the first place. Of course those miserable losers would ruin it for everyone else, but that's not her fault.

[SinnerCity]

26 minutes ago, qurl said:

so they’d …… rather …. CHILDREN …. HAVE …. children ……

 

ok

They’d rather children have children that will go to school and most likely end up in the midst of a shooting perpetuated by some random kid that purchased a gun because they believed America should be great again.

 

 

[Mr. Blue_Shirt]

They probably did this for safety concerns because God knows that people like LibsofTikTok would've sent bomb treats to one of her tour stops, but man, I hate that conservatives would use this as their win now.

[Archetype]

I agree with this decision, it is completely inappropriate to be handing this stuff out at an event whose audience is going to be a majority 16 and under.  They could hand out educational pamphlets and places to obtain these items instead, but giving people lube and condoms is way over the top.  

Edited March 15 by Archetype

[Mr. Mendes]

As much as I wish it could continue, I don't know that the real reason for it is the "accessibility by young people" thing. The real reason I'm quite certain is the fear that it's going to lead to some crazy pro-lifer doing something terrible at one of her tour stops, especially as she tours around the South. The Manchester Bombing as well as the year over year rise in gun violence has shown that nowhere is off limits, and the violence aimed at Planned Parenthood clinics increasing as well demonstrates that places explicitly advocating for these things are even more of a target. 

 

It's sad, very sad that they can't continue this. But the message got out, and I've got not doubt Olivia is going to continue advocating for this as time goes by. At the very least, these booths at her shows can help educate the young people in attendance about safe sex and the options available to them if they find themselves in a situation that requires a tough decision. 

[Mr. Mendes]

2 hours ago, Archetype said:

I agree with this decision, it is completely inappropriate to be handing this stuff out at an event whose audience is going to be a majority 16 and under.  

Not really when there are plenty of people 16 and younger who're sexually active. I don't know about you, but I'd much prefer those people to be using condoms versus them not. I know people think middle and early high school kids have no concept of this stuff but I promise you that it starts much, much earlier than anyone is comfortable acknowledging that it does. 

[Archetype]

47 minutes ago, Mr. Mendes said:

Not really when there are plenty of people 16 and younger who're sexually active. I don't know about you, but I'd much prefer those people to be using condoms versus them not. I know people think middle and early high school kids have no concept of this stuff but I promise you that it starts much, much earlier than anyone is comfortable acknowledging that it does. 

I’m not disagreeing with what you’re saying, more so that a large music concert targeted towards young girls and teenagers is not the place to be handing out lube and condoms.  No one is going to an Olivia Rodrigo concert hoping to learn about using protection for the first time.  I’m all for the educational opportunity regardless, but it sounds more like they were trying to make a point by handing supplies out, and it would easily cause unwanted controversy for Olivia if this was to blow up.  

[Kayseri Mantisi]

Thoughts? 

 

 

https://variety.com/2024/music/news/olivia-rodrigo-abortion-funds-not-allowed-distribute-plan-b-condom-1235943079/

[Mitsouko]

Everyone wants to be Madonna but no one can handle it lol

[Solaria]

That's a shame. She woulda made a powerful statement by refusing to back down.

[NoOneDiesFromLove]

[Jglj]

Will she still distribute the materials for abortion rights, though?

 

Also, can't the people giving them away just skip the kids?

[Loroy]

Her main audience is teenage girls in the 10-15 age range, so yeah, It was quite weird and inappropriate 

She had good intentions tho

[Peak Now]

Good intentions 

[JonginBey]

 

[Dear Reader]

13 minutes ago, Loroy said:

Her main audience is teenage girls in the 10-15 age range, so yeah, It was quite weird and inappropriate 

She had good intentions tho

There’s nothing wrong with teaching kids ways to protect themselves when it comes to sex. Teaching kids the basics of contraception and consent is not bad. I see your point, but a lot of “teenage pregnancies” could be avoided if things were taught the right way.  

 

It’s really a shame she backed down on this, but I guess her team might’ve made a lot of pressure.