Missouri
Olivia Rodrigo gives away free Plan B at Missouri show, calls for 'funding abortion'
Doing what Olivia Rodrigo does takes serious guts.
The 21-year-old popstar is being commended by fans and activists after giving away free boxes of Julie âemergency contraception also known as Plan B â at her recent show in St. Louis, Mo.
Nonprofit Missouri Abortion Fund and pro-choice group Right By You handed out the medication alongside information on how to find abortion care, as well as a card that read: âFunding abortion? Itâs a good idea, right?â
“It’s brutal out here in Missouri, but we are here for abortion access and hand out Plan B,” the Missouri Abortion Fund wrote on X, formerly Twitter, referencing Rodrigo’s lyrics.
The show was part of Rodrigo’s GUTS World Tour. When kicking off the event in February, the singer also launched a reproductive health initiative, Fund 4 Good, through which a percentage of profits from her concerts go to local chapters of the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Providing an abortion is a Class B Felony in Missouri, carrying a prison sentence of up to 15 years. State legislators passed the total ban in 2019, known as a “trigger ban,” which went into effect immediately once the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The law has no exceptions for rape or incest survivors. In fact, lawmakers in the state recently rejected a law that would have protected victims’ access to the treatment.
Robin Frisella, Community Engagement Director at Missouri Abortion Fund, told Rolling Stonethat the response from concertgoers in St. Louis was “extremely encouraging,” and that many were “very surprised that they were not asked to pay.”
“It was great to hear that response and for new people to find out that we exist,” she said. “I have Gen Z daughters and so I just absolutely love this generation. They’re just curious and want to be empowered. The opportunity to learn more about their own reproductive health care does that.”