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Olivia Rodrigo’s voice is loud and clear on the place she stands. The singer’s crew labored in partnership with native advocacy teams at hand out free emergency contraceptive drugs and condoms at Tuesday’s present in St. Louis.
The transfer, throughout Rodrigo’s “Guts” world tour, is a part of the singer’s Fund 4 Good initiative, which goals to make sure “an equitable and simply future for all girls, ladies and folks searching for reproductive well being freedom.”
The advocacy teams arrange tables exterior the live performance with pamphlets of data and assets.
“It was our determination to deliver the emergency contraception, which we at all times do after we desk,” mentioned Stephanie Kraft Sheley, challenge director of Proper By You, one of many Missouri-based advocacy teams. “It wasn’t essentially one thing [Olivia’s team] requested us to do.”
A portion of the proceeds from all ticket gross sales from every leg of the tour in North America goes towards the Nationwide Community of Abortion Funds, a community of 100 funds that assist individuals search abortion entry. The Missouri teams included Proper By You and the Missouri Abortion Fund.
One fan created a thread on social media of the native NGOs Rodrigo has partnered with in every present she’s achieved so far.
Rodrigo has been vocal about reproductive well being care rights previously. After the Supreme Courtroom dominated in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, she joined Lily Allen to sing “F*** You” on the Glastonbury Music Pageant, dedicating the efficiency to a few of the justices.
“I am devastated and terrified. So many ladies and so many women are going to die due to this,” Rodrigo mentioned onstage on the time. “I wished to dedicate this subsequent tune to the 5 members of the Supreme Courtroom who’ve confirmed us that on the finish of the day, they honestly do not give a s*** about freedom.”
After the Supreme Courtroom ruling, Missouri grew to become one among dozens of states to ban abortion, with restricted exceptions.
“I believe it is exhausting for people that are not residing in banned states to grasp the disaster that that is creating throughout the maternal and perinatal well being panorama, not simply round abortion,” Sheley mentioned. “And so it is it is actually important to see this type of assist.”
Emergency contraceptive morning-after drugs, that are completely different from abortion drugs, assist stop being pregnant earlier than it begins by stopping or delaying ovulation.
Some drugs — together with Plan B — are offered and not using a prescription at numerous shops and pharmacies, and might value as much as $50 in some circumstances.
“To purchase particularly a model title emergency contraception off the cabinets in shops may be very costly, so the truth that we had been giving it to people free of charge … they positively obtained it very nicely and had been tremendous grateful and excited,” Sheley mentioned.
In accordance with KFF polling final yr, a 3rd of adults say they’re “uncertain” whether or not emergency contraceptive drugs are authorized of their state though the drugs are at the moment authorized in all U.S. states.