A Matter of Honor

ReligiousLiberty.TV ^ | 02/01/2013 | Michael D. Peabody

[ReligiousLibertyTV]

By Michael Peabody

[dc]I[/dc]n 2010, La Sierra University, a Seventh-day Adventist liberal arts institution in Southern California, named its “Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship Center” after notorious abortion provider Edward C. Allred. Allred, a 1964 graduate of Loma Linda University Medical School, has achieved legendary status in the pro-life community for his frank comments in a 1980 interview with the San Diego Union. (The full article, entitled “Doctor’s Abortion Business is Lucrative” is available here.)

In the article, Allred described how he was able perform more abortions, more quickly, in a more cost-effective manner.  In addition to eliminating pre-abortion psychiatric counseling, Allred’s doctors would spend no more than 5 minutes per procedure by “eliminating needless patient-physician contact.”

According to the article, “The secret of the clinics' efficiency, Allred said, is ‘giving everyone one job to do and then making them an expert at it.’”

Allred described how clinic buses would pick up “planeloads of women” who flew to California from states where it was difficult to obtain abortion procedures.

Allred’s motivation for starting the clinics is also quite interesting. Rather than summarize, I will simply include the following paragraphs from the Union article:

Allred said he was interested in population control even before he went into the abortion business. He said he and his wife decided 20 years ago to have no children and never regretted the decision. He suffers the controversy surrounding abortion without apparent turmoil (“It's inevitable”) and refuses to debate the morality (“I'm not a philosopher.”)

“Population control is too important to be stopped by some right-wing pro-life types,” Allred said. “Take the new influx of Hispanic immigrants. Their lack of respect for democracy and social order is frightening. I hope I can do something to stem that tide; I'd set up a clinic in Mexico for free if I could. Maybe one in Calexico would help. The survival of our society could be at stake."

Eliminating welfare would be a good step toward population control, Allred said.

“The Aid to Families with Dependent Children program is the worst boondoggle ever created,” he said. “When a sullen black woman of 17 or 18 can decide to have a baby and get welfare and food stamps and become a burden to all of us, it's time to stop. In parts of South Los Angeles having babies for welfare is the only industry the people have.”

If the state eliminates Medi-Cal funding for abortions, Allred said his clinics might continue giving free abortions to poor women “for the social good.”

Allred is also listed as the physician on duty at the failed abortion of Gianna Jessen  in 1977 who was born alive after her mother underwent an attempted saline abortion. She suffers cerebral palsy, but has become an outspoken anti-abortion advocate and dedicated Christian, specifically lobbying for legislation signed by George W. Bush in 2002 that outlawed the killing of abortion survivors by strangulation, suffocation, discarding the living fetus, or leaving it to die.  (See GiannaJessen.com)

Allred, who had made millions through is abortion clinics, sold his chain of clinics in 2005 to another graduate of Loma Linda University. Allred also bought the Los Alamitos Racetrack and in the past decade lobbied to change state law in order to have Vegas-style slot machines brought to the track to help increase revenue.

In 1992, the Seventh-day Adventist Church published Guidelines on Abortion which provides that “prenatal human life is a magnificent gift of God. God's ideal for human beings affirms the sanctity of human life, in God's image, and requires respect for prenatal life. However, decisions about life must be made in the context of a fallen world. Abortion is never an action of little moral consequence. Thus prenatal life must not be thoughtlessly destroyed. Abortion should be performed only for the most serious reasons.”

The guidelines continue, “Abortions for reasons of birth control, gender selection, or convenience are not condoned by the Church. Women, at times however, may face exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.“

La Sierra University describes Allred as follows:

“Dr. Allred has always been an entrepreneur, whether in his innovative and financially successful medical practice or in his lifelong commitment to the sport and business of quarter horse racing in the United States and Southern California in particular. To both he has brought not only sound and creative business practices but also a deep interest in his colleagues and employees and a genuine care for their well being.

“Dr. Allred has also been a change agent in society through his generosity as a philanthropist. He has been especially supportive of universities, secondary schools, student groups, and church organizations.

“The Center is pleased not only to acknowledge the legacy of Dr. Edward C. Allred but also to carry out at least part of his vision for the promotion of free market economics particularly among high school students.”

As an alumnus and a Seventh-day Adventist myself, I contacted La Sierra regarding my concerns regarding the naming of the facility. I have been advised that the University has no intention of renaming the Edward C. Allred Center for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship. According to spokesperson Larry Becker, “It's important to note that La Sierra University benefits from the generosity of a wide variety of donors—Adventist and non-Adventist. The University values each gift as a donor’s expression of support for its efforts to provide the best possible Adventist education to our students.”

There is an old rule of thumb when it comes to bestowing honorifics that says, “Tell me who you honor and I will tell you what you are.”

In naming the center after Allred, La Sierra has bestowed not only an honorific title, but staked its claim in one of the most contentious social issues by tacitly acknowledging, approving, and praising his entrepreneurial accomplishment.

Given that the University is making its stance eminently clear, let me also be clear – this honor is objectionable and abhorrent.  La Sierra University – rename the center!

 

(Note:  The opinion cited herein is that of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the other editors or advisory panel of ReligiousLiberty.TV.)

[RBStealth]

Yes the ‘true religion’ of God as given by Ellen White the founder of 7th Day Adventists, doesnt condone abortion for certain purposes, but openly and legitimately performs them in their hospitals.

The language of ‘doesnt condone’ doesnt exactly evoke the language of the commandant ‘Do not kill’.

7th Day Adventists also believe that any reference to wine in the Old&New Testament is a reference to sugary grape juice, since Ellen White’s teachings do not allow acoholic beverage consumption. As refrigeration of grape juice was practiced by the Jews, by storing grape juice underwater in cold frigid lake or river, year-round. Hmmm, how come they didnt do that with anything else? like meat and other perishables and post sentries. Maybe it was easier to convert grape juice to actual wine and forego the teams of divers, and the rivers and lakes that actually heated up pretty high during the summer as they do everywhere that has a meditteranean climate or higher.