Recently there were three letters in support of opening a Planned Parenthood facility in Fontana. The arguments presented were non-sequiturs and statements not based on fact.
For example, one person stated she wanted “the best for our city. That’s why [she] wholeheartedly support[s] a Planned Parenthood opening in Fontana.”
A non-sequitur is “an inference that does not follow from the premises.” The premise is that what one person believes is best for Fontana which infers (concludes) that Planned Parenthood is what is best. That does not follow.
Of course, her opinion is something to which she has every right. But her opinion is not a fact. There is no correlation between what is best for Fontana means a Planned Parenthood facility within the city.
The author went on to say that she was “concerned about the increasing lack of quality, low-cost reproductive healthcare, and comprehensive sexual health education” . . . and “that Fontana, by most measures, is a medically underserved city.”
What measures are those?
Fontana is home to Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest medical providers in Southern California. It also has an Arrowhead Family Health Center located at Baseline and Sierra avenues operated by the County of San Bernardino, several clinics and medical providers throughout the city. We also have Assure Pregnancy located on Foothill Boulevard as they come alongside pregnant women and aid in any questions that they may have.
Within minutes of Fontana are world-class major medical facilities which include the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and University of California Riverside Health. It boasts, “Our medical offices are located in Riverside and throughout the region, so you don’t have to travel long distances for access to quality health care.”
Those are facilities in and to the east of Fontana. There are numerous medical facilities to the west as well.
—– MEDICAL SYSTEM PLANNED
The medical system is not happenstance. Every county or cluster of counties has an official governmental organization which plans, coordinates, implements, and evaluates “effective emergency medical services” and distributes those vital services across the population.
In San Bernardino County it is called the Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency and includes Mono and Inyo Counties. In Riverside County it is Riverside County EMS Agency.
The EMS services are the foundation of the system. Built into and around that system are medical centers and clinics. The facility may not be in your city, but the plan is to distribute medical facilities, so they are within minutes of everyone.
Statements which are not substantiated by facts but are merely an expression of personal opinion and should be viewed with skepticism and suspicion.
(Tim Johnson is a Fontana resident.)
