The 1068 N. Cherry building is located in the Tulare Medical Center, a set of ten buildings separate from, but near, Adventist Health Tulare. FPA provides gynecology, STI testing, birth control, and abortion services throughout California and intends to offer the same in Tulare.
The Tulare Medical Center Property Owners’ Association filed its lawsuit on September 30, naming FPA Women’s Health and the building owners, Leopoldo and Jennifer Valdivia, as defendants. The clinic opened in October.
The suit alleges that FPA Women’s Health violates the property owners’ association’s covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CCRs) by providing abortion services.
The lawsuit states, “Per Section 7.01, the board of the Association decided that such use proposed by the Valdivias or their tenant FPA of providing abortions did not comport with the CC&Rs and did not fulfill the purpose of the medical complex.”
According to the FPA Bakersfield office, the Tulare clinic is open Monday through Friday but only provides patient services on Tuesdays and Fridays. FPA does not provide surgical abortions in Tulare – though its website says that it does – but it does provide the abortion pill that can be effective up to the 11th week of pregnancy.
Women who need a surgical abortion must travel to Bakersfield or Fresno.
The Tulare Medical Center’s CCRs recorded in 1991 states, “nor shall any units be used for the following types of practices: abortion clinic, drug, or alcohol care unit (including methadone clinics) emergency ward, Surgicenter, chiropractory, medical imaging center, clinical or reference laboratory and herbal medicine. The Board shall have no authority to grant variances or exceptions from the restrictions imposed by this Section 7.01.”
The Valdivias were first contacted by the Tulare Medical Center Board of Directors this February. Jennifer Valdivia declined to comment for this story.
“FPA will not be allowed at the 1068 Cherry building in the Tulare Medical Center. The City Manager and the Mayor have been notified of the situation. Please contact FPA and instruct them to leave,” a letter from Armstrong Community Management said.
The Tulare Medical Center is run by a board of directors who are owners. The association is managed by Armstrong Community Management, a branch of Armstrong Property Management that specializes in homeowner and business associations. Crystal Williams is the CEO and President.
Williams declined to state when they became aware that FPA was a potential tenant.
TMCPOA is being represented by Douglas A. Gosling of Bakersfield’s Braun Gosling, Catherine W. Short from the Life Legal Defense Foundation In Ojai, and Gregory N. Weiler from Irvine’s Dzida, Carey & Steinman.
FPA Women’s Health and the Valdivias are being represented by Leonard Herr of Herr Pedersen & Berglund in Visalia.
The plaintiffs are asking for a “temporary restraining order, a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants, any purported agents or representatives, either directly or indirectly, including through third persons or entities, from violating or continuing to violate the CC&Rs by providing abortion services at the subject property”
Is the case as clear as it seems?
Though the CCRs clearly state that no medical office can assist in or perform abortions, the fact that Tulare Medical Center’s governing document is more than 30 years old means the rules potentially conflict with current law and are no longer enforceable.
According to the civil law firm Goldstein, Gellman, Melbostad & Harris LLP’s website, “Generally, CC&Rs which are more than 10 years old are suspect; CC&Rs dating back more than 20 years with no subsequent amendments are certainly overdue for updating.”
A local lawyer, commenting anonymously to the Valley Voice, concurred.
“Changes in state law over the last 30 years might have invalidated TMCPOA’s CCRs,” they said.
The CCRs were written at a time when the Tulare Local Healthcare District owned 1068 N. Cherry. County records show the district sold the property to the Valdivias in 2001.
Adventist Health Tulare confirmed that the hospital has no affiliation with the Tulare Medical Center complex.
“Though Adventist Health Tulare is around the corner from the complex and at times referred to as the Tulare Medical Center, the two are different entities and unaffiliated,” said Renee Garcia, Marketing Account Manager for Adventist Tulare.
What’s next?
The suit has been assigned to Judge Gary M. Johnson and there is a case filing management conference January 29, 2025. But before next year there will be further legal filings.
Catherine Short, from the Life Legal Defense Foundation, said that as of October 15 she wasn’t sure if the defendants had yet been served.
Once they are served, the defendants will have 30 days to respond.
“We were contacted by the medical center to help with the case because the Life Legal Defense Foundation is a pro-life group. We defend pro-life issues throughout California,” Short said.
