The controversial 'health literacy' program, one of the first of its kind in the nation, may soon be expanded to all 28 public library branches serving Sacramento County’s 1.5 million residents.
(LifeSiteNews) — The Sacramento Public Library in California has begun providing free contraceptives and pregnancy tests at 12 of its branches while promoting Planned Parenthood’s version of sex education.
The controversial “health literacy” program, one of the first of its kind in the nation, may soon be expanded to all 28 public library branches serving Sacramento County’s 1.5 million residents.
The plastic “sexual health education cabinets” would be commonplace in an office setting were it not for their contents. Instead of pens and paper clips, the pullout drawers contain condoms, lubrication, dental dams (in vanilla and mint flavors), and pregnancy test kits.
The cabinets have been placed in open and unsupervised areas of the libraries, making the items accessible to visitors of all ages on a self-serve basis. There are also on display Planned Parenthood pamphlets such as “Your Birth Control Choices,” which advises that “putting on condoms can be fun foreplay.”
“Having sex? How safe are you?” reads the eye-catching sign atop the cabinets, with the word “sex” printed in big red letters. The sign includes a QR code, intended for use by middle and high school students, leading to Planned Parenthood’s “engaging and inclusive sex ed classes designed just for you!”
LifeSiteNews visited the Sacramento Public Library’s Carmichael, Fair Oaks, and Sylvan Oaks branches last week. The cabinets at the first two branches were located near areas dedicated to teenage patrons. The cabinet at the Sylvan Oaks branch was located near the circulation desk and had additional signage for “Sexual Health Book List: Teens.”
The Pride Guide: A Guide to Sexual and Social Health for LGBTQ Youth; It's Totally Normal! An LGBTQIA+ Guide to Puberty, Sex, and Gender; and Doing It! are three of the six titles now being advertised at that library.
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte operates 35 “health centers” covering the central third of California and the entire state of Nevada. All the organization’s facilities offer contraceptives, medication abortions, and “gender-affirming hormone therapy.” Many of the centers provide surgical abortions.
READ: Planned Parenthood closing 4 Michigan facilities, citing expected Trump funding cuts
Peter Coyl, director and CEO of the Sacramento Public Library, told LifeSiteNews that the library system is spending $2,600 for the 12 sexual supplies cabinets, while also footing the bill for the pregnancy tests. Planned Parenthood is providing the contraceptives and other items at no charge through an “in-kind community partnership” for a period of three months.
The cabinets were rolled out in February, meaning the program will be evaluated for continuation and potential expansion to all 28 library branches in May.
Coyl described the collaboration with Planned Parenthood as “one of our many in-kind community partnerships that support health literacy and provide equitable access for all.” The library’s Health Literacy webpage is currently promoting the sex cabinets alongside more conventional programs for blood drives and cooking classes.
The tie-up benefits Planned Parenthood with free advertising aimed at a target audience of young people with smart phones. Besides the pamphlets and links to the business’s online sex-ed resources, even the free condoms are branded with the Planned Parenthood logo.
Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council, criticized the project as “state-sponsored sexualization of minors.” He said it “tramples on parental rights, disregards child safety, and spends taxpayer dollars on material implicitly encouraging children to engage in sexual activity.”
“Now parents who send their kids to the library to pick out a book have to worry about them returning with condoms or dental dams,” Burt said. “This isn’t education—it’s indoctrination that assumes children … should be exploring sex at younger and younger ages.”
The Sacramento Public Library has a 13-word mission statement. Its equity statement runs to 279 words and commits the system to supporting “anti-racism” and addressing “barriers to library resources due to institutional and structural racism.”
The library “welcomes the inherent responsibility to … advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion,” according to the equity statement. One result of the DEI agenda is the availability of menstrual products in the men’s restrooms at all 28 library branches.
Library CEO Coyl said the tampon and menstrual pad dispensers were installed in all women’s and men’s restrooms in 2021. Radical gender ideology was booming at the time, leading to a surge in the number of biological males mistakenly claiming to be females, and vice versa.
“Menstruation is a basic human function,” said Coyl, glossing over the reality that only women can menstruate. “Having dispensers in all restrooms provides equitable access for all. For example, a dad visiting the library would be able to provide his daughter with hygiene products if she needed them.”
He added that the library system spends roughly $27,000 per year on menstrual supplies for all its restrooms.
The menstrual product dispensers in the men’s rooms at two of the three library branches visited last week were completely empty. The dispenser in the men’s room at the third branch contained only a few tampons.
It seems unlikely that stocks are being depleted by fathers with daughters having their periods. But the dispensers are advancing the woke goal of normalizing the fictional concept of menstruating males.
Readers wishing to voice their concerns about the “sexual health education cabinets” or tampons in men’s restrooms may call the Sacramento Public Library at (916) 264-2920 and ask to speak to a manager.
READ: Judge rejects California’s attempt to dismiss lawsuit against anti-parent transgender policies
Charles Miller is a pseudonym for a Catholic writer living in Sacramento, California.
