American singer Olivia Rodrigo is set to bring her GUTS World Tour to the Singapore Indoor Stadium for two nights on October 1 and 2 this year.
While many here are looking forward to her performance, Singapore singer-influencer Sara Cheng-Dewinne aka Sara X isn’t on board with her 18-year-old daughter, Ines, attending the three-time Grammy winner’s concerts.
The 36-year-old shared that her sister had reached out to her about the ‘Vampire’ singer “giving out morning-after abortive pills” at her concert in Missouri.
Olivia made the news last month for allowing pro-choice groups to give out contraceptives such as morning-after pills and condoms.
Umm… Isn’t the morning-after pill very different from an abortion pill?
In the US state of Missouri, abortion is illegal and is only permitted in the case of an emergency that threatens the life of a pregnant person.
Olivia’s team has since halted the distribution of contraceptives as children were present at her concerts.
It is not confirmed if similar Singapore-based organisations will be allowed to have a presence at her shows here.
8days.sg has reached out to concert organiser LiveNation for comment but did not get a response.
Sara became a teenage mum when she was 18 and in junior college.
“I just want to make a stand on this because I am not encouraging Ines to go,” said Sara, who has three more kids, Leon, eight, Aaron, two, and Lila, seven months, with her husband Mark DeWinne.
She then shared that she chose not to go for an abortion when she got pregnant at 18 even though many had advised her to.
On Olivia’s concert, Sara said she “cannot deal with that irony that my daughter will go to a concert of a very famous pop star advocating for abortion”.
“It is a practice that goes against our entire life story”, she added before calling out Olivia for giving a “platform and visibility” to pro-choice groups and approving their message.
“She gave the ‘abortonists’ the right to go round and say “Hey, you want this $50 morning-after pill? Cause if you have sex and [is] scared you get pregnant, you can just kill your child,” continued Sara.
She also added this disclaimer: “If you believe in abortion, that’s fine, that is your prerogative.”
“I am making a stand for my own family and I’m putting it out there that I don’t think my daughter should go because of this,” she said.
Though Sara closed the comments section of the video, it has not stopped TikToker @moonbeam_moo to respond on her own account. Her response has since garnered 131K views.
She went on to clarify that “Plan B pills are different from abortive pills” and said the former are used as emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy.
She also explained what abortion pills are used for while addressing how condoms and lubricants were also given out at Olivia’s concert in Missouri.
@moonbeam_moo then said that abortion is illegal in Missouri and Olivia’s viewpoint was “to protect the reproductive rights of women” where they are “able to choose what they want to do with their bodies.”
She also said that this is a “women’s rights issue rather than a “Oh, you’re aiding in and abetting murder” kind of thing”.
In Singapore, abortions are allowed till as late as 24 weeks or six months of pregnancy.
Since her video was posted on Wednesday (June 12), many came out to criticise Sara for promoting misinformation while thanking @moonbeam_moo for clearing it up.
“How did she [Sara] completely miss the whole point and mistake the two pills? She is a grown woman with so many kids and she doesn’t know the difference?” asked a perplexed netizens.
Others took to commenting on Sara’s other videos, with one writing that with Ines turning 18, “She can go to the Oliva Rodrigo’s concert without her mother’s approval.”