ARTICLES

Blood Money

SHOULD PRO-LIFE POLS ACCEPT ABORTIONIST'S CASH?

By Christopher Zehnder

"THE DIRTY LITTLE SECRET is now out. Orange County politicians have been quietly meeting with, receiving tens of thousands of dollars from, and then voting to protect the interests of, the notorious abortionist Edward Allred."

So claimed a full-page advertisement, authored and paid for by Operation Rescue West, run in the July Christian Times, a Protestant evangelical news magazine. OR West issued the advertisement in the wake of a June 26 story in the OC Weekly that revealed Orange County pro-life politicians had been receiving tens of thousands of dollars in donations from abortion clinic multi-millionaire, Edward Allred (see "Clips," July/August). The ad singled out assemblymen Scott Baugh (who has taken $39,000 from Allred), Curt Pringle ($29,000), Ross Johnson ($17,000), and congressman Steve Horn ($4000). "They believe," said the advertisement, "you will continue to give to their campaigns and as long as they vote on enough meaningless pro-life bills you will forgive them when they betray you and the babies they are elected to protect."

As evidence of this charge, Operation Rescue claimed that Curt Pringle voted "for millions of dollars in Medi-Cal funding of abortions." State senator Ken Maddy, another Allred beneficiary, Pringle, and Baugh also protect their "'good friend' Edward Allred," says the advertisement, by voting in various ways to defend gambling interests. Allred owns the Los Alimitos Race Course in Cypress, which, according to the OC Weekly article, takes in over $1 million a day.

"The issue is purity," Troy Newman of OR told News Notes. "We must be pure in the eyes of God or we will not be able to win" the struggle against abortion. "Would PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals] take money from a fur farm? Would Jesse Jackson take money from the KKK?"

Kent Peters, head of the San Diego diocese's social ministries office, refused to comment on the issue, citing a diocesan policy not to speak to News Notes. Some pro-lifers, however, think it imprudent to attack politicians who have been more or less friendly to pro-life issues.

Orange County activist Robert Cielnicky, coordinator of the Alliance against Abortion Funding, said that while he is "not soft" on pro-life politicians who take money from Allred, he is wary of targeting them. "I'd rather see us concentrate on pro-abortion politicians who are acting unchallenged in their districts because people in their districts don't really know how they're voting," Cielnicky said.

Joan Patton, active in the San Diego pro-life movement since 1973, said she saw nothing essentially wrong with the OR advertisement. However, she said she would like to ask OR if it has proof that this Allred money has affected votes on pro-life legislation. "Of course," she said, "it could be votes on his [Allred's] racetrack, which is still not good. But how has it affected [the legislators'] votes?

"I used to think we [in the pro-life movement] should just all be united and that there should be one approach on how to do everything. I no longer feel that way. I think that people go different directions, and some are harder-hitting than others. [But] we really play into the pro-abortion-choice people's hands when we allow these things to become intramural."

"There's no doubt that it divides the movement for the short term," said Tim Wilson, another long-time pro-life activist who lives in Inglewood. "But in the long run, people have to take abortion seriously. If they were taking it seriously, they wouldn't take money [from Allred] in the first place. If somebody had just robbed a bank, shot some people, and showed up at [Scott Baugh's] office to give him money, he wouldn't take it. But it's no different than what Allred does....

"People are too much at peace with the abortion industry. It is blood money." Wilson rejects the argument that, at least, Allred's money is going to support pro-life causes: "You're saying, 'It's all right to abort some babies as long as I get the money.'"

Michaelene Jenkins of the California Pro-Life Council in San Diego said, "When I look at something like this, I know we don't always agree with everything a legislator does; but for us, being a single-issue organization, what is most important is how they are voting." She said Baugh, Pringle, and Johnson "are definitely pro-life," but state senator Ken Maddy has a mixed record and congressman Steve Horn "is actually someone I would consider pro-abortion because he even supports partial-birth abortion."

While Troy Newman thinks the political process has been so far a failure -- "What have we been doing since 1967?" -- Jenkins is more optimistic: "We understand and have accepted in the political process that sometimes you have to take it step by step and ten percent is better than nothing; and then we'll work for the 20, and the 50, until we get to 100 percent." Jenkins likened the pro-life movement to the anti-slavery and civil rights movements which accomplished their goals only after many years. Recent polling, she said, indicates "key changes in the perception about abortion that are opening doors for us that we may not see this year, but maybe five or ten years from now."

State assemblyman Steve Baldwin (Republican, El Cajon) said that while he himself would never take money from the likes of Allred, he did not know "if it's right to condemn some of my colleagues who have. Some of them who are pretty solidly pro-life say, 'Hey, Steve, I vote pro-life 100 percent, what's wrong with taking money from the enemy and using it to advance pro-life? If the money doesn't go to us, it goes, maybe, to advance pro-abortion candidates.' It's a different philosophy on how you approach blood money, so to speak."

"There is an argument," he said, "that...when [Allred] calls and lobbies on an abortion- or euthanasia-related or population control­related or condom-related vote, they [the politicians] will at least take his call, talk to him and, maybe, be influenced somewhat. Once you take money from a person it's hard to blow them off. I haven't seen it happen yet, because Allred has been contributing to these guys for a short period of time. The real test is going to be February, March, April, and May of next year when, once again, we have a series of votes to cut off medical payments to abortion clinics. If the same guys [Baugh, Pringle, Johnson] vote with me who have always voted with me, then they haven't been influenced."

Though Baugh, Pringle, and Johnson have voted with Baldwin on certain pro-life legislation, they have not voted with him against the state budget. ""I haven't voted for a budget since I've been here, because the governor keeps increasing funding for abortion," said Baldwin. He pointed out that legislators can be rated 100-percent pro-life by the California Pro-Life Council regardless of their budget votes. Baldwin said only Bruce Thompson, Phil Campbell, Bob Margett, Tom Bordanaro, and Howard Kaloogian have opposed the budget. It is this "yes" vote on the budget, presumably, that prompted Operation Rescue's charge in their advertisement that Curt Pringle voted "for millions of dollars in Medi-Cal funding of abortions."

In separate meetings with Baugh and Pringle on Friday, July 24, Operation Rescue representatives requested that the two politicians refrain from accepting any additional contributions from Allred and commit to voting "no" on any state budget containing funds for Medi-Cal abortions. Neither would commit to a "no" vote on the budget, though Baugh subsequently did vote "no" (Pringle voted "yes"). Pringle also refused to promise not to accept more money from Allred; Baugh said he would probably refuse in the future, though for his own reasons.

Three messages left by News Notes over a period of several days, requesting comment from Pringle or a spokesperson, had not been returned by press time.

Jeff Sauls, Baugh's chief of staff in Sacramento, pointed out the donation in question came to Baugh from the Los Alamitos Race Course at a time when Allred was only part-owner. (He became sole owner in February 1998). Sauls was evasive when queried on the share owned by Allred at the time. Peter Crandall, Baugh's legislative aide, relayed Baugh's response to a News Notes inquiry: "He [Baugh] confirmed that he did notify the California Pro Life Council that he would be receiving and accepting a contribution from Dr. Allred."

Michaelene Jenkins disagreed. Prior to the publication of the ad, she said, she had no knowledge of Allred's donations nor, as far as she knew, did anyone else in her organization.

The only San Diego politician to accept money from Allred is Howard Kaloogian, who took $1500 in July 1996. Kaloogian could not be reached for comment before press time.

Additional reporting for this story was done by Anne Knight.