Fresno approves $1 million for local Planned Parenthood despite anti-abortion outcry

The Fresno City Council on Thursday voted in favor of being a pass-through entity for state funding grants to Arte Américas, Neighborhood Industries and Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, despite hours of impassioned debate over the Planned Parenthood funding.

The council chambers at Fresno City Hall were packed with Planned Parenthood supporters and anti-abortion activists who both spoke during public comment.

The City Council approved the resolution for $9.5 million in state funding by a 5-1 vote. Councilmember Garry Bredefeld was the lone no vote. Councilmember Mike Karbassi was absent.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte will receive $1 million; Neighborhood Industries will receive $1.5 million; and Arte Américas will receive $7 million.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, who was not present for the vote, previously said he plans to veto the resolution if passed. But with the super-majority vote in favor, a veto becomes moot.

Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, secured the money for the nonprofits through the state budget process and chose the city of Fresno as the pass-through entity. After the vote, he expressed his thanks to the Fresno City Council.

“I am proud to have secured these funds that address equity and increase access to the cultural arts, employment training, and health care services for the poor and uninsured,” he said in a statement. “I hope the City of Fresno’s administration recognizes the tremendous need for resources in our community and respects this decision.

“These funds are part of the $21.5 million in state general fund allocations that I secured this year for a variety of local agencies and nonprofit organizations in the 31st Assembly District,” he said. “I will continue to be a strong advocate who brings state resources to the district.”

Lauren Babb, vice president for public affairs of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, said the organization is grateful to the supportive councilmembers.

“We couldn’t be more happy to be able to expand care for our patients here in Fresno,” she said.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte will use the money for renovations and expansions at its Fulton Street location, enabling the clinic to see more patients, Babb said. The funding will also buy probes ultrasound scopes used in cancer screenings, she said.

Many San Joaquin Valley patients lost insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s patients live well below the federal poverty line, Babb said.

Before the vote, dozens of people spoke during public comment asking the City Council to approve or deny the funding. Many in support wore Planned Parenthood shirts and held signs. Those who opposed the funding referenced religious beliefs and some repeated misinformation about the number of abortions the clinic performs.

Bredefeld played a video from a doctor who quit performing abortions before launching into a tirade about abortion and Planned Parenthood’s work. He also alleged Arambula wanted a fight on the issue and purposefully created division.

“Planned Parenthood is not about reproductive care. It has nothing to do with reproducing children. They are killing them. That’s what they’re doing,” Bredefeld said. “While we lose the fight today, the fight is not over. It will never be over until this evil, this genocide, this infanticide comes to an end.

“The reality is Planned Parenthood is all about abortion,” he said, “and anything else is a bunch of bullshit.”

Councilmembers Miguel Arias, Luis Chavez, Nelson Esparza, Tyler Maxwell and Esmeralda Soria spoke in support of the funding, Planned Parenthood and a person’s right to health care procedures, including abortion.

Arias questioned why religious leaders weren’t doing more to help people living on the streets of Fresno. Chavez and Soria spoke about the lack of health care services in south Fresno during the coronavirus pandemic. Esparza and Maxwell kept their remarks shorter, clearly voicing their support for women’s health care and the right to choose.