The Fontana City Council in Fontana, California, voted on Tuesday 4-1 to extend its ban on construction in the area of a proposed Planned Parenthood facility for another year.
According to The Sun, the moratorium on construction was originally initiated on July 25, 2023, and extended to July 23, 2024. Now it will remain in place until at least July 23, 2025. Mayor Acquanetta Warren and Councilmembers Peter Garcia, John Roberts, and Phillip Cothran each voted to extend the moratorium, while Councilmember Jesus Sandoval opposed its extension.
Planned Parenthood has been attending council meetings and staging public protests, claiming that this is a direct attack on Planned Parenthood, which has been leasing land in that area for two years, waiting to open a new facility.
The abortion corporation has even placed electric advertisements in the city and flown planes overhead stating, “Fonanta Deserves High-Quality Health Care.”
Mayor Warren, however, was clear that the moratorium is not specifically about Planned Parenthood. She read from a city statement, “The ordinance is neither illegal nor targeted toward blocking the construction of the Planned Parenthood health center. Rather, it is part of a broader, thoughtful community planning effort to promote economic development throughout the city and contribute toward the revitalization of downtown Fontana.”
In a statement, the City said, “The City of Fontana is not in opposition to Planned Parenthood, the surge in development necessitates a thorough analysis of the city’s primary commercial corridors.”
Following the vote, Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties said in a news release, “Today, the Fontana City Council has once again turned its back on the community by extending the ‘urgency moratorium’ on new construction for a year, effectively blocking Planned Parenthood from building a new health center. Not only is this a clear infringement on their citizens’ constitutional rights to access reproductive care, it’s obvious these efforts are not motivated out of concern for the health of their citizens.”
Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties has filed a lawsuit against Fontana with the San Bernardino Superior Court, claiming that the moratorium is unconstitutional.
“As for what happens now,” reported Joy Benedict for KCAL News, “Planned Parenthood says it will continue to fight for this project as they say this area is growing not only in population but need.”
