When Singer-Songwriter and Actress Olivia Rodrigo performed her GUTS Tour in St. Louis, Missouri on Mar. 12, 2024, the singer’s team partnered with local chapters of the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) to hand out free emergency contraceptive pills and condoms at booths during the show.
Attendees of Rodrigo’s St. Louis concert received a GUTS-branded package containing two boxes of Julie — an emergency contraceptive that can prevent pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex — in addition to information on accessing abortion care resources within the state.
Health Education Teacher Jenn Epstein thinks that the conversation surrounding contraception is positive. “[Rodrigo] bringing sex and using condoms more into the open and [making it] less taboo is great, and I love that she did that,” she said.
In addition, before her GUTS tour in Feb. 2024, Rodrigo announced that she would donate a portion of the proceeds from her North American tour to NNAF through her Fund 4 Good initiative.
Rodrigo’s donation announcement and the distribution of emergency contraceptives on her tour both met significant backlash from the media.
On X, formerly Twitter, Missouri State Senator Bill Eigel said, “As the father of a daughter, I am horrified by this and [Rodrigo] should be ashamed.”
In response to Eigel’s post, fan and concert attendee Delilah Ricciardi ‘25 said, “I feel like [it’s] terrible that [Eigel] would attack such a young, successful female artist as a grown man. It’s terrible that [Rodrigo] had to stop and [that] she was silenced by the media.”
Following the backlash from Eigel and others, Rodrigo and her team opted to discontinue the distribution of emergency contraceptives. “[We are discontinuing the distribution because] children are present at the concerts,” said the team in a statement to Variety magazine.
Rodrigo frequently uses her platform to advocate for women’s healthcare. She expressed her outrage on stage at multiple concerts in 2022 and 2023 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Despite the criticism, many of Rodrigo’s fans support her handing out contraceptives. One fan, @MichaelaOkla, posted on X, “To have the new generation of mainstream pop girls be this brave and this willing to be 100% clear about an issue that is SO polarizing … I have tears in my eyes. It’s awesome to see.”
Jade Hurley, communications manager for the DC Abortion Fund, told Variety how much of the media is uninformed about contraception and how it affected reactions to the resources handed out at Rodrigo’s concert.
“[Some] don’t know the difference between emergency contraception [like Plan B] and the abortion pill, which are two completely different things,” said Hurley. “Extremists are purposefully conflating the two to restrict access and shame minors out of getting the resources they need. … Their agenda is just control and power over [others’ bodily] autonomy and they always go after young people first.”
In a TikTok video posted on Rodrigo’s official account, she explained how she will still donate to NNAF despite discontinuing her partnership with them on tour. Rodrigo said, “A portion of all proceeds from ticket sales will go to the National Network of Abortion Funds to help those impacted by healthcare barriers in getting the reproductive care they deserve.”
“Contrary to what usually happens, where parents have the talk with kids — which implies there’s one conversation and that’s it — I think there should be multiple conversations [about sex education] early on,” said Epstein. “Rodrigo supplying good resources and organizations that kids can get information [from] is good … because some kids really hate talking to their parents [about sex].”