DETROIT—Anyone who's been paying attention to the news is probably aware that President Trump has a hard-on (and not in a good way) for, among others, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic official who's been one of the most outspoken advocates for having people stay in their homes as much as possible during the coronavirus pandemic, and for businesses staying closed except for the most essential. And there's good reason for that: As of this writing, the state has 51,142 cases of COVID-19, with 773 having been added just within the past 24 hours, and 4,891 total deaths from it... so far.
But people sometimes do have a need to go out, whether to work at what's considered an "essential" job, to buy groceries, see a doctor, get dialysis—there are a number of reasons—but thanks to a new state program, one of those reasons isn't "to buy condoms."
Most AVN readers are too young to remember the great Northeast blackout of 1965, which affected all of the New England states and as far north as Ontario, Canada and as far south as Pennsylvania, but one result of that 13-hour loss of power was, nine months later, a mini-baby boom. Simply put, with no electricity and nothing else to do, people fucked, and that led to a noticeable increase in births in those states.
The same thing could easily happen in states that are locked down because of the pandemic, and in order to head that off, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), with the governor's approval, launched a free condom delivery service, where state residents could email the Health Department and arrange to have packets of ten condoms and lube delivered by mail free of charge. And for those living in Detroit, Highland Park or Hamtramck, make that a 12-pack of each!
"We feel that it is extremely important during this public health crisis to continue to support our communities in protecting themselves against unintended pregnancy, STIs, and HIV," Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for MDHHS, told news site MLive.com.
Not only that, but with many people now unemployed because of the business shutdown, even affording a virtual necessity like condoms could easily strain a family's budget.
"We were really kind of glad to see the state come out with this program," Michelle Thorne, a Calhoun County Public Health Department Choices Clinic Nurse Practitioner, told USAToday. "This has been kind of an ongoing issue since we got into this stay-at-home order."
"This is a great option if people are in need and can't go to the store and get them," she added.
MDHHS assured those requesting the condoms and lube that the items will be sent in a plain envelope without even a Health Department logo, and would "likely be hand addressed as staff are working from home and shipping these items out," according to Sutfin.
The department is taking email requests at [email protected]. Requests should include a name and address, so non-Michiganders need not apply.
Pictured: A screen capture from the May 12 edition of A Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which did a story on the offer.
