La Sierra University Accused of Collaboration with an Abortion Promoter
by AT News Team
A web operation that has dogged La Sierra University for allegedly teaching about evolution in ways that contradict Seventh-day Adventist Church doctrine is now accusing the university of collaborating with “a notorious abortionist.” The story has been picked up by a web site that promotes anti-abortion politics and is not affiliated with Adventists.
Dr. Edward C. Allred is a La Sierra alumnus, a physician who graduated from medical school at Loma Linda University and went on to four decades of practicing medicine and developing a successful business career in California. In 2010 he gave La Sierra University a grant to create a center in its business school that teaches entrepreneur skills to high school students in the Riverside, Calif., area. This donation is the key element of the accusation by ADvindicate.com that has been republished in Life Site News.
The original story was produced by David Read, a Los Angeles attorney who writes regularly for ADvindicate.com. It includes some statements that seem, on their face, to be unlikely. For example, that Dr. Allred “personally” aborted “hundreds of thousands of fetuses.” That would translate to at least 200,000 abortions and over 40 years that is 5,000 per year or 14 per day, assuming he operated 365 days a year.
What is on the record is that Dr. Allred has had a practice in obstetrics and gynecology for many years and he started Family Planning Associates Medical Group in 1969, which now has 20 clinics throughout the state. California has always had a liberal abortion law and the practice has included legal abortions. After the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court, the group practice expanded. Its web site acknowledges that it is often picketed by anti-abortion activists.
The Advindicate.com article also assails Dr. Allred for his involvement in horse racing, describing it as having “strong ties to the gambling industry.” The doctor started his involvement with horses at age 14 and over the years became the owner of the Los Alamitos racetrack. According to CorporationWiki.com he owns an interest in a number of businesses, including some that are related to horse breeding and racing.
If accepting money from Dr. Allred is a moral weakness on the part of the university, the same may be true of the anti-abortion cause. The public record of political donations linked to CorporationWiki.com lists numerous donations by Dr. Allred to candidates that are on record in opposition to abortion, including a $1,000 donation to Michele Bachmann in 2010, a presidential candidate in the Republican Party in last year’s primaries, and $4,800 to Carly Fiorina’s campaign in California. He gave much larger donations to the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee in 2010, both on record as solidly anti-abortion. He supported the McCain-Palin campaign with two gifts totaling $53,500 in the 2008 presidential election cycle, and Senator John McCain is well known for his “at the moment of conception” statement in response to Pastor Rick Warren’s question about abortion. In fact, there are very few donations to candidates who are pro-abortion in the record that goes back to 1999.
The Life Site News story did include a statement from a university spokesman. “La Sierra University benefits from the generosity of a wide range of donors [and] students continue to learn important economic principles through the programs operated by the Center for Financial Literacy and developed by School of Business faculty members,” said Larry Becker, university relations director.
It is unclear if Advindicate.com will become an Adventist affiliate with the anti-abortion movement. “Is this a real concern, or just another stone to throw,” one La Sierra alum asked when contacted by Adventist Today for a comment.
