It is one thing to push pills that could lead to death because of overdose or abuse. It is another thing to push pills that are designed to kill. But that’s just what one young pop star is doing—a pop star with 36.7 million Instagram followers.
I’m speaking of Olivia Rodrigo, and the pills she is pushing—more accurately, the pills she is giving away—are abortion-related pills. What could be deadlier than that?
I knew nothing about Rodrigo or her mission until our eldest granddaughter, Elianna, a 2023 graduate of Liberty University, sent me a screenshot of a post on X dated March 12. It contained a picture of a woman’s hand holding some condoms whose packaging reads, “Funding abortion? It’s a good idea, right?”, along with two packets containing the “emergency contraceptive” pills. (Presumably the woman whose hand was in the picture is the one who posted it. At present, it has 12.8 million views and more than 38,000 likes.)
The post was captioned: “free planb at @oliviarodrigo in st. louis tonight thank you @MOAbortionFund.” (According to USA Today, “Plan B pills are used as emergency birth control and work to prevent pregnancy primarily by delaying or preventing ovulation.” Technically, these pills are not outlawed in Missouri after the state’s near total abortion ban.)
To paraphrase, “Yes, thank you Olivia for helping us terminate any life inside our wombs before it even has a chance!” How tragic.
Who, then, is Olivia Rodrigo, and why is she on this mission?
According to Biography.com, “Olivia Rodrigo found fame on the [Disney Channel] TV show ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ before embarking on a Grammy-winning music career. She is known for her hit song ‘drivers license’ and the acclaimed albums ‘Sour’ and ‘GUTS.'”
Billboard states that she is 21 years old and describes her as “a sharp-penned singer-songwriter with a success story to rival the likes of fellow Disney starlet-turned pop stars Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus.” (Not to get off track, but if you are a parent and your kids enjoy watching Disney child stars, I would strongly encourage you to do two things: First, pray for these Disney kids that they would grow up right; second, don’t let your own kids get too enamored with these child stars, lest they want to follow Hannah Montana as she morphs into Miley Cyrus.)
As for Rodrigo’s recent activities, a headline on People.com announced that she is, “Distributing Free Condoms and Emergency Contraceptive Pills” on her recent concert tour, which the article then describes as “promoting safe sex and reproductive care.”
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Ah yes, “reproductive care.”
So, in keeping with the standard Orwellian terminology, having an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic is your “reproductive right.” Destroying a just-conceived baby in the womb is “reproductive care.” What wonderful “care”!
Yes:
At her Guts World Tour stop in St. Louis, Missouri on Tuesday, Rodrigo—who has been vocal about her support for reproductive rights in the past—and the Missouri Abortion Fund provided boxes of morning-after pill Julie and condoms to fans at the show, according to photos shared by a fan on X (formerly Twitter).
The distribution comes after Missouri enforced its trigger ban on all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant person when Roe V. Wade was overturned in 2022, according to Center for Reproductive Rights.
Rodrigo, 21, is also donating a portion of proceeds from each ticket sold for the Guts World Tour to her non profit, Fund 4 Good, as well as the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Indeed, according to the Missouri Abortion Fund, “It’s brutal out here in Missouri, but we are here for abortion access and [to] hand out Plan B.”
But before we condemn Rodrigo, let’s put her activism in context.
She, along with her mother, who was born in 1974, grew up in the Roe era, with abortion as the law of the land. Presumably, the “right” to abortion has been as normal to them as going to church on Sunday or watching college sports on Saturday is normal for other Americans.
And so, women born in the Roe era might debate whether or not abortion was morally right, but there would be no debate as to whether a woman could legally choose to abort. That was a given. The fear and dread now experienced by two generations of Roe era, pro-abortion women has been palpable since the overturning of Roe in 2022. “How can this be happening?” they wonder.
As for sexual activity out of wedlock, a Dec. 19, 2006, headline on the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute website claimed that, “Premarital Sex Is Nearly Universal Among Americans, And Has Been For Decades.” That was back in 2006.
Reflecting the morals of the moment, this is the reply I received from the AI Claude when I asked, “What percentage of babies born to first time mothers in America?”
Claude answered, “According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020 approximately 40.5% of all births in the United States were to unmarried mothers. This statistic includes both first-time mothers and those who have given birth before.”
Then, after explaining that “I do not have reliable data on the specific percentage of first births that are to unmarried mothers,” Claude added this caveat:
It’s important to note that the term “out of wedlock” has largely fallen out of use as it can carry judgmental connotations. Many prefer to use the more neutral term “unmarried mothers.” Additionally, marital status alone does not determine family stability or child wellbeing. Many unmarried parents are in committed relationships and provide loving homes, while sadly some married parents face challenges. Rather than promoting marriage as a solution, experts recommend focusing on supporting all families and addressing underlying social and economic inequities.
These, then, are the ethics of the day. Forget about self-control and abstinence (who even thinks about that?), have all the sex you want with whomever you want. Just do it safely. And if there’s an accidental slip up? Then go to Plan B! And remember: we dare not be judgmental!
As for those white supremacist, bigoted Republican men who dare to tell us what a woman can and must do with their own bodies, this is how we push back. Young people, unite!
Let’s remember, then, to turn our moral outrage and grief over Rodrigo’s actions into prayers for this younger generation (including Rodrigo, who certainly believes she is doing good). We should pray for their true and lasting conversion to Jesus as well as for them to learn the intended beauty of sex within marriage and the miracle of life within the womb.
We can and should be thankful for the positive changing of laws, but we must work day and night to continue to change hearts.{eoa}
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