I realize this piece of Adventist history is old news, but this is the first time I've seen it. Please bear with me.
Below is a 1980 San Diego Union article about Dr. Edward Allred, the Adventist obstetrician and notorious abortionist. Lest you think I'm attacking the man for his sordid past, you should know that I do not condemn him. We all, like sheep, have gone astray--but by His wounds we are healed.
In short, I don't know Dr. Allred's status with God or the Adventist church (I just learned that he may have left the church years ago), but I know that abortion is murder.
Christians are called to represent the Way, the Truth, and the Life. A church that fails to stand against murder blasphemes God. A church that commits abortion in its own hospitals and clinics, through its associations, and through its "pro-choice" policy, is destined for hell. If the church will not separate itself from this practice--and I pray it will--I beg you to separate yourselves from the church.
Until then, please continue to speak of this with your friends, family, church leaders, and our God. May He bless you richly.
"Doctor's Abortion Business is Lucrative" (San Diego Union; October 12, 1980)
Abortion is a business to Edward Campbell Allred, and business has never been better.
Since finishing a two-year hitch as an Army doctor in 1967 with a "negative net worth," Allred has become a multimillionaire by forming the largest chain of abortion clinics in California. Allred estimates his clinics will perform upwards of 60,000 abortions this year--up from 40,000 just two years ago.
Allred also owns two industrial medical practices, two pharmacies and a portfolio of silver and oil stocks, but his main investment is his abortion business. Allred declines to discuss his finances, but state health officials estimate Allred's clinics and 22-bed abortion hospital will gross more than $12 million this year--about 25 percent from Medi-Cal.
A new clinic will open in Long Beach this January, and Allred talks of opening one in Calexico to "help stem the Hispanic tide" into the United States.
"I love to work very hard," said Allred, who performs an estimated 1,800 abortions each month. "I almost feel guilty when I'm not working. Golf is the only thing that can take my mind off work. But if I'm away more than a day or two I get nervous and worried and have to get back to work."
Allred may love to work, but he also loves his leisure hours and the pleasures his lucrative Family Planning Associates Medical Group abortion clinics can buy.
Allred owns homes in Fresno, Long Beach and La Crescenta, a 270-acre ranch near San Luis Obispo, a 6,500-acre cattle ranch in Nevada, and one of the largest stables of quarter horses in the country. He uses his Mercedes 450XL or two planes, including his 10-place King Air 200 turboprop, to travel between clinics.
An Allred horse named Rich Grich won the $33,000 Golden State Derby this year at Bay Meadows Race Track in San Mateo. Allred's Charger Bar earned nearly $500,000 before being retired for breeding. Allred owns about 200 quarter horses--about 40 of which are on the race track circuit.
Allred, 44, is a 1964 graduate of the Loma Linda University Medical School run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He said he would have preferred to be a lawyer or politician but "every good Seventh-day Adventist boy is supposed to become a doctor."
"I was not much interested in science or medicine, frankly," Allred said. "I went to USC Law School but dropped out. I didn't have much aptitude for science but all my friends were going to medical school so I went. My instinct, I think, were better suited to the business world than medicine."
Allred's interest in politics persists, however. A moderate to conservative Republican, Allred has contributed to Ronald Reagan's campaigns "since the early days." He also contributed to the gubernatorial campaign of Sen. Ken Maddy, R-Fresno, (despite Maddy's anti-abortion views) and the campaign by Carey Peck to defeat Rep. Robert Dornan, R-Calif., a staunch foe of abortion.
Allred began his abortion business soon after passage of a 1967 state law allowing abortion in cases where the mother's mental health was endangered. Allred was administrator of the 22-bed Avalon Memorial Hospital (which he later bought) near Watts when the law passed.
Allred quickly made Avalon the leader in the abortion business. He says he was urged to turn Avalon into an abortion hospital by officials of the Los Angeles Free Clinic--a version of events which clinic officials say is not true.
"Here we were, this tiny hospital in the worst area of town, doing 17,000 abortions the year before the 1973 Supreme Court decision and our nearest competitor was doing 6,000," Allred said. "We just worked at it harder and were organized better than our competitors."
"Half our patients were from out of state. Planeloads would come in on the weekends from Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. We'd meet them at the plane with a bus and take them directly to the hotel. I'd work from 6 in the morning until midnight performing abortions."
After the Supreme Court struck down all anti-abortion laws, Allred began expanding into outpatient clinics where women could get abortions without staying overnight in a hospital. Allred now has clinics in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, Ventura, Kern, Fresno and Stanislaus counties.
"We've been pioneers in so many ways," Allred said. "We dropped the psychiatric evaluation even before the Supreme Court decision. We let the physician make the mental health decision. We streamlined, we made efficiencies, we employed the suction technique better than anyone, and we eliminated needless patient-physician contact."
A typical Allred clinic does abortions only two or three days a week. On other days nurses give pregnancy exams and postoperative follow-ups. Allred and his staff arrive only for the abortions; Allred tries to visit each clinic at least once a month.
Allred prides himself on keeping the clinics clean, comfortable and stocked with the latest in medical equipment. The San Diego clinic, for example, has a plush, carpeted waiting room, two spotless operating rooms, two recovery rooms, and every piece of equipment suggest for outpatient gynecological surgery in a recent edition of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Allred and his staff work quickly. Allred likes to spend no more than five minutes on each abortion--in order, he says, to reduce the amount of anesthesia needed and the chances of anesthesia-related problems. Speed also means lower prices, Allred argues.
At the San Diego clinic, on Alvarado Road, a first trimester suction abortion costs $160 with a local anesthetic, $185 with a general anesthetic, according to clinic director Kazumi Kato. Abortions for Mexican nationals cost $150, regardless of the type of anesthetic, Kato said, because "they can't afford more."
Kato says the doctors sometimes are told to slow down because the recovery rooms are full.
The secret of the clinics' efficiency, Allred said, is "giving everyone one job to do and then making them an expert at it."
"We try to use the physician for his technical skill and reduce the one-to-one relationship with the patient," Allred said. "We usually see the patient for the first time on the operating table and then not again. More contact is just not efficient. A nurse practitioner is adequate, although, of course, the doctors are always ready if there are problems."
Allred is also proud that he has never lost a malpractice suit. Nor has a medical charge ever been filed against him with the Board of Medical Quality Assurance. Even Carmen Trujillo, president of the California Pro-Life Council, says, "Our feedback is that the clinics are clean and medically sound."
The clinics do not require hospital licenses and thus do not receive the same scrutiny as hospitals by state health officials--a fact that suits Allred fine. "We hate having state bureaucrats crawling around," he said. "The state doesn't know a damned thing about abortions."
The Allred clinics perform the abortions for the Insurance Co. of North America and three hospitals run by the Kaiser health plan ("We're negotiating to get the work from two more.").
Allred said he was interested in population control even before he went in 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 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." Besides, he said, the funding issue will be moot when the pharmaceutical industry perfects the abortion suppository, probably within the next decade.
"When the suppository is available at every drugstore, I'll be a dinosaur," Allred said. "I'll be glad to get out of the business. I'm sure I'll be remembered as a pioneer. I love what I've created, and I love my organization."
Below is a 1980 San Diego Union article about Dr. Edward Allred, the Adventist obstetrician and notorious abortionist. Lest you think I'm attacking the man for his sordid past, you should know that I do not condemn him. We all, like sheep, have gone astray--but by His wounds we are healed.
In short, I don't know Dr. Allred's status with God or the Adventist church (I just learned that he may have left the church years ago), but I know that abortion is murder.
Christians are called to represent the Way, the Truth, and the Life. A church that fails to stand against murder blasphemes God. A church that commits abortion in its own hospitals and clinics, through its associations, and through its "pro-choice" policy, is destined for hell. If the church will not separate itself from this practice--and I pray it will--I beg you to separate yourselves from the church.
Until then, please continue to speak of this with your friends, family, church leaders, and our God. May He bless you richly.
Abortion is a business to Edward Campbell Allred, and business has never been better.
Since finishing a two-year hitch as an Army doctor in 1967 with a "negative net worth," Allred has become a multimillionaire by forming the largest chain of abortion clinics in California. Allred estimates his clinics will perform upwards of 60,000 abortions this year--up from 40,000 just two years ago.
 |
| "I love to work." |
A new clinic will open in Long Beach this January, and Allred talks of opening one in Calexico to "help stem the Hispanic tide" into the United States.
"I love to work very hard," said Allred, who performs an estimated 1,800 abortions each month. "I almost feel guilty when I'm not working. Golf is the only thing that can take my mind off work. But if I'm away more than a day or two I get nervous and worried and have to get back to work."
Allred may love to work, but he also loves his leisure hours and the pleasures his lucrative Family Planning Associates Medical Group abortion clinics can buy.
Allred owns homes in Fresno, Long Beach and La Crescenta, a 270-acre ranch near San Luis Obispo, a 6,500-acre cattle ranch in Nevada, and one of the largest stables of quarter horses in the country. He uses his Mercedes 450XL or two planes, including his 10-place King Air 200 turboprop, to travel between clinics.
An Allred horse named Rich Grich won the $33,000 Golden State Derby this year at Bay Meadows Race Track in San Mateo. Allred's Charger Bar earned nearly $500,000 before being retired for breeding. Allred owns about 200 quarter horses--about 40 of which are on the race track circuit.
Allred, 44, is a 1964 graduate of the Loma Linda University Medical School run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He said he would have preferred to be a lawyer or politician but "every good Seventh-day Adventist boy is supposed to become a doctor."
"I was not much interested in science or medicine, frankly," Allred said. "I went to USC Law School but dropped out. I didn't have much aptitude for science but all my friends were going to medical school so I went. My instinct, I think, were better suited to the business world than medicine."
Allred's interest in politics persists, however. A moderate to conservative Republican, Allred has contributed to Ronald Reagan's campaigns "since the early days." He also contributed to the gubernatorial campaign of Sen. Ken Maddy, R-Fresno, (despite Maddy's anti-abortion views) and the campaign by Carey Peck to defeat Rep. Robert Dornan, R-Calif., a staunch foe of abortion.
Allred began his abortion business soon after passage of a 1967 state law allowing abortion in cases where the mother's mental health was endangered. Allred was administrator of the 22-bed Avalon Memorial Hospital (which he later bought) near Watts when the law passed.
Allred quickly made Avalon the leader in the abortion business. He says he was urged to turn Avalon into an abortion hospital by officials of the Los Angeles Free Clinic--a version of events which clinic officials say is not true.
"Here we were, this tiny hospital in the worst area of town, doing 17,000 abortions the year before the 1973 Supreme Court decision and our nearest competitor was doing 6,000," Allred said. "We just worked at it harder and were organized better than our competitors."
"Half our patients were from out of state. Planeloads would come in on the weekends from Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. We'd meet them at the plane with a bus and take them directly to the hotel. I'd work from 6 in the morning until midnight performing abortions."
After the Supreme Court struck down all anti-abortion laws, Allred began expanding into outpatient clinics where women could get abortions without staying overnight in a hospital. Allred now has clinics in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, Ventura, Kern, Fresno and Stanislaus counties.
"We've been pioneers in so many ways," Allred said. "We dropped the psychiatric evaluation even before the Supreme Court decision. We let the physician make the mental health decision. We streamlined, we made efficiencies, we employed the suction technique better than anyone, and we eliminated needless patient-physician contact."
A typical Allred clinic does abortions only two or three days a week. On other days nurses give pregnancy exams and postoperative follow-ups. Allred and his staff arrive only for the abortions; Allred tries to visit each clinic at least once a month.
Allred prides himself on keeping the clinics clean, comfortable and stocked with the latest in medical equipment. The San Diego clinic, for example, has a plush, carpeted waiting room, two spotless operating rooms, two recovery rooms, and every piece of equipment suggest for outpatient gynecological surgery in a recent edition of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Allred and his staff work quickly. Allred likes to spend no more than five minutes on each abortion--in order, he says, to reduce the amount of anesthesia needed and the chances of anesthesia-related problems. Speed also means lower prices, Allred argues.
At the San Diego clinic, on Alvarado Road, a first trimester suction abortion costs $160 with a local anesthetic, $185 with a general anesthetic, according to clinic director Kazumi Kato. Abortions for Mexican nationals cost $150, regardless of the type of anesthetic, Kato said, because "they can't afford more."
Kato says the doctors sometimes are told to slow down because the recovery rooms are full.
The secret of the clinics' efficiency, Allred said, is "giving everyone one job to do and then making them an expert at it."
"We try to use the physician for his technical skill and reduce the one-to-one relationship with the patient," Allred said. "We usually see the patient for the first time on the operating table and then not again. More contact is just not efficient. A nurse practitioner is adequate, although, of course, the doctors are always ready if there are problems."
Allred is also proud that he has never lost a malpractice suit. Nor has a medical charge ever been filed against him with the Board of Medical Quality Assurance. Even Carmen Trujillo, president of the California Pro-Life Council, says, "Our feedback is that the clinics are clean and medically sound."
The clinics do not require hospital licenses and thus do not receive the same scrutiny as hospitals by state health officials--a fact that suits Allred fine. "We hate having state bureaucrats crawling around," he said. "The state doesn't know a damned thing about abortions."
The Allred clinics perform the abortions for the Insurance Co. of North America and three hospitals run by the Kaiser health plan ("We're negotiating to get the work from two more.").
Allred said he was interested in population control even before he went in 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 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." Besides, he said, the funding issue will be moot when the pharmaceutical industry perfects the abortion suppository, probably within the next decade.
"When the suppository is available at every drugstore, I'll be a dinosaur," Allred said. "I'll be glad to get out of the business. I'm sure I'll be remembered as a pioneer. I love what I've created, and I love my organization."
