Following the release of her second album “GUTS” in September of 2023, Olivia Rodrigo’s “GUTS World Tour” kicked off in Palm Springs, California at the end of February. As a part of each stop on the tour, Rodrigo has started “Fund 4 Good,” an organization with hopes of increasing education for women, protecting reproductive rights and preventing gender-based violence.
Through Fund 4 Good, a portion of the proceeds from Rodrigo’s concert ticket sales will go towards chapters of the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) local to each of the cities she visits. At a recent show in St. Louis, Rodrigo partnered with the organization Right By You to pass out emergency contraceptives and flyers containing information about abortion access and the Missouri Abortion Fund. After receiving significant media backlash, Rodrigo’s team and the NNAF asked that their partners on the tour no longer pass out these resources because children are in attendance of Rodrigo’s concerts.
Lawmakers in Missouri as well as internet personalities criticized Rodrigo’s advocacy for abortion access and championing of women’s reproductive health awareness, claiming she was encouraging young girls to get abortions. This is a dramatic overinflation of the truth on many different levels. First, passing out emergency contraceptive pills and other sexual health products like condoms is not “handing out abortions” nor is it encouraging them to do anything. Rodrigo’s intentions through Fund 4 Good and its partners is only to encourage awareness on women’s health issues and destigmatize those conversations.
While it is true that Rodrigo does have a lot of young girls following her, the majority of her audience are women between the ages of 18-34. Although the majority of her audience is over the age of 18, for those of her followers that are pre-teen or early teenage girls, access to those kinds of resources can only help them in the long run. Having access to these resources and information provided at Rodrigo’s shows invites those girls to be more knowledgeable about their own health and wellness and make them more comfortable within their bodies.
Chair of the Prairie Abortion Fund Destini Spaeth spoke out against the decision, stating “Sex and sexual health tools — whether that be abortion, Plan B, condoms — are villainized because you’re [seen as being] promiscuous. We don’t look at it as a sign of responsibility… If the kids aren’t getting the education that they need in school, at least they can rely on reproductive health organizations in their communities to get that information and resources to them.”
Having such a large platform and influence, Rodrigo’s choice to use it for something with such importance and relevance as abortion access and women’s health is an excellent example of artists standing up for what they believe in and using the resources that they are lucky enough to have at their disposal to try to make a difference.
mkane10@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @oliviarodrigo, Instagram
