Trump or Hillary: why I just can’t.
By: Julie Davis
Tags: Politics, Abortion, Trump, Hillary Clinton, Us Election 2016

Trump or Hillary: why I just can’t.

Written October 2016

Well I’ve done it: Jumped on the bandwagon with all the other masses of people who love to render unsolicited advice. And of all topics, I chose the ever-depressing, ever-impending 2016 presidential election.

In a nutshell: I can’t vote for Hillary and I can’t vote for Trump, and that doesn’t make me an irresponsible or apathetic American. Here’s why:

Recently a friend passed along an interesting article entitled, “I’m pro life. And I’m voting for Hillary. Here’s why.” The title definitely sparked my interest, since the abortion issue is what I would consider to be my personal “hill to die on.” (More on that in just a minute) This jist of the article was that a liberal approach to government would do more for helping the American people (especially those within the demographics that are prone to abortions) than a republican approach. In a way, I resonated with her viewpoint. It seems like republican politicians frequently push the idea of freedom from an economic standpoint: “Stop giving away our money to people who haven’t worked for it.” And liberals argue, “These people need help and it’s the government’s job to do so.” Hillary and Trump represent the extremes of these two views, and I have problems with both.

But first, let me back up and explain why the abortion issue is so central in mind when it comes to choosing where to place my vote.

Why is abortion my main issue?

There are real lives at stake here: Lives of entire communities that function without a stable nuclear family; without fathers or real men to value their daughters so that they don’t try to meet their need for love by sleeping around with guys who will immediately leave or pressure them to “get rid of it.” There are expectant women who literally have neither the time nor understanding to navigate a horrifically abused, complicated, and insufficient system in order to get the medical care, childcare, housing, and food that they truly need. And let’s also not forget the lives that are literally at stake: the children who haven’t exited their mother’s womb but are viable, living beings with faces that look like their parents’ and souls that are completely unique. A child that born into an unfortunate circumstance still has worth and still has a right to his or her life.

Many women who abort their babies aren’t doing so because they want to make a political statement about their right to choose. It feels like there is no choice but to abort. These women feel trapped, overwhelmed, and alone. When they themselves have not been treated as someone of worth, how can we expect them to value the tiny human beings inside them?

What does this have to do with the election? You can’t stop evil from happening, but the leaders in our country have a responsibly to do their best to protect American lives and freedom; and we have a responsibility to care for one another…not by shooing our neighbors off to a broken system, but by rolling up our sleeves and caring for people ourselves: adopting, educating, giving, mentoring, and actually caring in a way that involves direct and personal sacrifice of time and money.

There is a real need for women like teenage moms and single moms to have support. The system is failing them, and I honestly believe that pouring more money and red tape into a welfare system that is already broken and corrupt is not going to solve that problem. However, simply outlawing abortion is not going to improve life for those women either.

Lastly, there is no such thing as a safe abortion. Some methods are obviously less damaging than others, yes — I see what you were getting at. But it needs to be understood that an abortion does lasting damage, not only to the baby whose life never gets lived, but also to the mother who is physically and emotionally affected in deeper ways than most of them would ever expect. Nothing is ever without hope of healing, but it is truly a damaging and tragic occurrence that is so SO common. Over 55 MILLION abortions have been reported in the US since Roe V Wade (and not all states even have to report their numbers — California being one of them). That’s five times the number of people killed in the Holocaust.

So with that, let’s get back to the candidates.

Why not Hillary?

The Left has it absolutely right in identifying that there are people in our nation who need help. However, the problem with their view is that the government shouldn’t and can’t effectively satisfy the needs of all these people groups that they endeavor to help. No matter how well intentioned, the more that the government interferes with these groups of people, the more trouble that is created. For example, the article mentioned Hillary’s support for single mothers in low income areas. True, this demographic is where the majority of abortions come from. However, single mothers qualify for significantly more government welfare programs than do married parents. Also, the more you make, the fewer benefits that you qualify for. So in its efforts to care for others, the government has created an incredibly complex and easily abused system that disincentives people from work and marriage.

Republicans have it right that freedom from a tyrannical government is an essential element of human life that is worth fighting for. However, the problem with the typical republican approach is that they are trying to defend liberty for entirely the wrong reason. Yes, freedom is a God-ordained human right, but biblically the purpose of freedom has always been so that we can generously provide and care for those around us. God brought the Israelites out of captivity for that same purpose:

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people,a light for the nations to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42)

So, if it is true that abortions have increased during republican presidency,* it’s an evidence that we have lost sight of the duty of the American people as individual free human beings to step in with the care and financial support that republicans claim the government has neither the capacity nor the rights to provide.

She is explicitly aiming at destroying human life. Yes, most abortions don’t happen at 40 weeks (especially since it’s illegal at that gestational age in most states), but the fact that the potential future president sees full term abortions as justifiable and even condones them is terrifying to me. This kind of disregard for the most defenseless beings in our nation is not something that I can support as a voter.

Hillary’s stance on this issue also demonstrates her disregard for American women. Abortions are physically destructive and emotionally damaging for the women on whom they are performed. This is true when performed at any phase in pregnancy, and even more so later on. We should be offering love, support, help, charity (from our own pockets) and encouragement for the expectant mothers in our nation, not an “easy” solution that leaves women injured and alone.

Why Not Trump?

I saw a clip of an interview with Trump where they were asking him what to do about abortion in America, and all he kept blubbering was that he “is pro life.” When the interviewer pressed him further, he stated that there should be “some kind of punishment” for women who have abortions…He missed the point completely.

Donald Trump is arrogant, selfish, dishonest, immoral, and ignorant. He repeatedly fails to be a man of his word, and his track record proves that he neither values human life (aside from his own) nor understands the issue of abortion. This combination of ignorance and apathy worries me that his list of 11 candidates for the Justice positions is worthless because he will say anything in order to get what he wants.

“In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate — look to his character. . . . When a citizen gives his suffrage to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor, he betrays the interest of his country” — Noah Webster

I can’t ignore my conscience in an effort to support the “lesser evil.” I didn’t follow my conscience during the primaries, and I regret it. I was a part of the large group of people who voted for Rubio because “he was electable.” What a waste. Now I’m realizing that I need to change my tune and actually use my right as a voter in the way that I’m supposed to. All these strategic and manipulative voting tactics is what helped land us in this debacle in the first place (well, that and the belief that government’s purpose is solve all our problems for us). I do get it that you need to vote for the lesser of two evils sometimes. But when both candidates check pretty much every box of what a president should not be, I just can’t do it.

Trump would be a terrible president. I don’t trust him and honestly don’t think I can vote for him. But that doesn’t mean that Hillary is the better choice.

So then what?

Lately I’m realizing that I have been operating under the belief that I HAVE to vote for one of the two main candidates, or else I’m not fulfilling my civic duty. However, I’m starting to realize just the opposite now:

My duty as an American (and also a believer) is to make an informed decision about voting — to honor my conscience and to make a wise choice. Just because I may not feel like I can rightly check either box on that portion of my ballot does not mean that I am choosing to be apathetic about this election and the future of our nation. It simply means that I don’t believe that I am doing my country a service by voting for either candidate.

But, I can’t stop there. If I really believe that either option will be putting an evil person in power, I had better get together a game plan for how else to counteract that evil. So, for me personally the outplaying of my civic duty is going to look like this:

1. Not voting for Hillary or Trump

2. Standing up for the causes that I fear will not be supported by the future president (whoever it ends up being). Specifically for me, that will be continuing to support and getting re-involved in volunteering at the East End Pregnancy Test + Help Center

3. Not being as ignorant about politics as I have been in years previous so that I can intelligently engage with people and hopefully make a positive impact four years from now

4. Being a neighbor and a friend to people. I believe that the government is not suited for supporting those in need. The welfare system is insufficient and abused both internally and externally. I think it’s the government’s job to guard our freedom and administer justice (through punishing evil and rewarding good), and it’s Church’s job to care for people. So, since I most likely will not like what I’m seeing come from Washington, I need to step up with eyes to see those in need, a mind to discern what to do (or sometimes not do) for them, and a heart to extend gospel-centered generosity and love to the poor and marginalized

5. Praying, praying, praying for mercy on our nation and for the leaders of our government to know the Lord and be changed by Him

Neither candidate for presidency hold a view that values women and unborn children; and Hillary’s views are particularly destructive in these areas. I don’t know what to do with my vote in November. But I do know this: it is my responsibility to be a neighbor and a friend in my community. To give to those who are in need so that they don’t have to rely on a government that doesn’t know or value them. So I’m gonna start there, and pray for mercy for our nation, opened eyes for its people, and changed hearts for our leaders.

*If you look at planned parenthoods own reports, the abortion rate has actually steadily declined since the early 1980s…so it’s kind of unfair to make the point that abortions were higher during in Reagan’s administration than they were in Clinton’s — the decline has occurred consistently regardless of who has been in office)