Brandy and I have personally concluded that we cannot in good conscience vote for Donald Trump. This was not an easy choice because the stakes are extremely high in this election. There are several policy positions of the Republican Party that we do not agree with, however, we vote Republican because of its commitment to restoring justice for preborn humans who are victimized by the inhumane practice of elective abortion. Some have argued since the next president will nominate at least two Supreme Court Justices that we must hold our nose and support Mr. Trump (It is true Mr. Trump released a very good list of individual he may nominate for SCOTUS, however the same day, characteristically, he said he could pick someone else not on the list). This argument kept us on the fence for several months, but we have realized, given the whole picture, this is not a compelling reason to support Mr. Trump (thankfully, two of the top experts in the Pro-Life movement I respect the most have thoroughly refuted this argument). Given Mr. Trump’s unpredictable nature, his record of changing his mind, contradicting himself publicly, taking five different positions on elective abortion within three days (not to mention his praise of Planned Parenthood, the organization that commits the most abortion in the US annually), and explaining these changes in position (being “flexible” in his term) are a virtue, there is no guarantee he will appoint an acceptable justice. Earlier I thought that I would vote for Mr. Trump to buy myself a SCOTUS lottery ticket, I may lose, but I may win. However, we have recently realized we would lose much more by supporting or even tolerating Mr. Trump.
We cannot in good conscience overlook Mr. Trump’s words, actions, and policy positions that promote injustice and attack the dignity of other human beings because we are hoping he will eventually assist us in promoting justice in our specific policy areas. The principles that cause us to fight for preborn children, pregnant women, and vulnerable patients require us to oppose Mr. Trump. On countless occasions he has spoken about individuals in ways that Speaker Paul Ryan admitted are the “textbook definition of racist comment[s],” Mr. Trump has a long and ugly record of sexist comments about women in general and has viciously attacked prominent females who criticize or challenge him, he has publicly mocked individuals with disabilities, he has encouraged his rally attenders to “knock the crap out of” any protestors, he has mocked “the weak,” and recommended banning individuals from entering the country because of their religion. These actions and views are entirely inconsistent with the principle we work to promote privately and in the public square: respect for the dignity and worth of every individual human being.
We cannot allow Mr. Trump to win and shape the Republican Party in his image, which will promote injustice, ignore the dignity of whole classes of individuals, and replace principles with political expediency. We do not want to encourage the rise of similar politicians (e.g. David Duke). Our opposition and the opposition of other conservatives will not cause us to lose this election in November. We have already lost. We lost by entertaining and tolerating Mr. Trump’s rhetoric, political strategy, and positions to gain such political traction. I hope that Mr. Trump loses in November and the party can return to our principles and character. We must lose the battle so that we may win the war. Brandy and I will still be supporting principled Republicans down the ballot and are committed to continuing to engage politics at other levels. However, we cannot vote for the Republican Presidential Candidate.
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