Pop stars clearly exert an outsized influence over American society today. Look no further than Taylor Swift and her ability to resurrect the ratings of the Super Bowl for proof. But did you know that some of them are also apparently either doctors or "medical influencers?" Every once in a while I run across a story that I just can't wrap my head around and that was the case today. It involves a different pop star named Olivia Rodrigo and a recent concert where she performed in St. Louis, Missori. During the show, a group called the Missouri Abortion Fund had set up booths and they were handing out some free gifts to the fans in the form of Plan B abortion pills. Yes, this was taking place at a concert, not a doctor's office. What in the Sam Hill is going on here? (National Review)

Olivia Rodrigo, a former star actress on Disney Channel, is promoting abortion access on her “GUTS” concert tour and working with local pro-abortion groups to distribute free abortion pills. 

Rodrigo, 21, performed in St. Louis, Missouri on Tuesday. The venue hosted booths run by the Missouri Abortion Fund and Text Right By You, a “youth-focused text line connecting Missourians to abortion care, birth care, adoption and parenting supports, birth control, and information about their rights.” 

“It’s brutal out here in Missouri, but we are here for abortion access and hand out Plan B with [Text Right By You],” reads a social-media post by the Missouri Abortion Fund. On Instagram, the Missouri Abortion Fund distributed free heart-shaped stickers that say “abortion forever” and a circular sticker that says “abortion is essential” with a QR-code.

This giveaway didn't happen spontaneously or by accident. It's reportedly the entire point of the tour. Rodrigo wanted to use the tour to provide help for and ensure that “those most impacted by systemic racism, misogyny, and healthcare barriers can get the reproductive care they deserve.” 

How is this even legal? Look, I'm actually not as much of a prude as some of you might believe and I'm not opposed to birth control. If this singer wanted to have people handing out condoms at her concerts, I wouldn't have a problem with it. You rarely hear about anyone suffering medical issues from condoms and, in all likelihood, some of the people showing up at these pop concerts probably shouldn't be spawning anyway.

But these Plan B pills are serious business. When a pregnant woman takes them, she is basically inducing a miscarriage. How can this be handled outside the premises of a doctor's office or clinic? Shouldn't there be some testing done to at least determine whether or not the patient is actually pregnant? It's not difficult to imagine some confused young female fan getting a little carried away with her boyfriend after a concert. Then, a few weeks later, if she's late with her monthly cycle she might panic and decide to take one of those pills rather than tell anyone. Plan B has known side effects and some of them are quite serious. 

A pop concert shouldn't even be handing out birth control pills to women, to say nothing of abortion pills. Hormonal birth control also produces known side effects in some women. These are medical procedures that are supposed to be supervised by doctors, not pop stars. We constantly see pictures of protests where women hold up pictures of coat hangers, warning that we "can't go back to the old days" when women were dying in back alleys, etc., etc. But is this really all that much different? 

None of that apparently matters, however. Rodrigo is on the warpath and her current target is the Supreme Court. It turns out that during a recent concert on this tour, she dedicated a song to the Supreme Court and proceeded to perform an expletive-laden tune. She added a personal note for the justices, saying, "We hate you." These people are clearly unhinged, so I suppose we shouldn't expect any common sense medical advice from them.