From Womb to Tomb

Why as a pro-life supporter, I’m voting for a pro-choice candidate

As a former South Dakotan and now current Minnesota resident, a public school educator, and a pro-life Christian, from womb to tomb, I will say this about this lovely political season we are now living through:

If you’re just going to comment and say I’m going to hell, save it. I know that my soul is kept safe by the One who transcends borders, time and political parties.

For those of you who consider yourselves evangelical Christians, I’m pretty sure Jesus doesn’t belong to the Republican party. Nor does he belong to the Democratic party. Nor would I think he would tell us that many of the things that the Democrats are focus on are wrong — heck, He speaks about helping the poor, the immigrant, the women and those society has simply forgotten.

Please don’t say I couldn’t be a Christian if I didn’t/don’t vote for Trump. I’m pretty sure my salvation isn’t tied to my vote.

Also, enough about voting for a single issue. There is SO much more at stake, particularly for women, now that RBG is gone. All those inroads that she made for women and equity could easily be gone in an instant now that her voice is gone in SCOTUS.

But besides that…. here are a few reasons why I’m NOT voting for Trump, again. I wasn’t open in 2016, and I wish I had been more vocal about why I didn’t vote for him.

As someone with major medical bills and a spouse who has chronic pain, our healthcare system is broken. We hemorrhage money every year, just to keep coverage and pay our bills, and that’s with employer insurance! I had two back injuries that both were unexpected that cost us THOUSANDS out of pocket WITH insurance.

I recognize this next point is going to ruffle feathers, but I feel like it has to be said. The wealthy in our country aren’t taxed enough, and it’s people like myself and others who are barely in the low to mid-working class income bracket who are carrying the load.

I’m not asking for those who are blessed financially to pay for everything. I recognize the hard work that your families have put in, but at least, please pay your d*** fair share. The tax bracket is so skewed toward the rich staying rich, and there are so many loopholes for the rich to keep their money. For this working class family, tax time is depressing as all get out.

Never-mind, the unexpected reality of a pandemic. Our meager savings account is now essentially at zero. I don’t think we are alone. And my husband and I don’t even have kids!

I would also argue that Covid-19 has really exposed how deeply underfunded our schools are — we can’t open back up because our buildings are 50–100 years old, the HVAC systems aren’t in place to support clean air, and the infrastructure isn’t in place to support education in a pandemic. Where schools are being told to open, the district is often on the hook for the millions they need to shell out to make opening back up possible, further exasperating the underfunded classrooms.

So many are calling for a return to schools, calling teachers selfish, but are you really just asking teachers to become martyrs for your “open up the economy and stop my pocketbook hemorrhaging” cause?

Because that’s how it sounds to us.

I completely empathize with small business owners. I have made a point to frequent these businesses and spend my money wisely there. I have several close friends who are small business owners. I get it. Being closed during the height of this pandemic really hurt and for some, its something they will never come back from.

HOWEVER…

So many of my teaching friends have pre-existing conditions that make them more at risk if they were to get Covid. Or they have a parent or a spouse or a child who has that pre-existing condition.

Never-mind my students who live often in multi-generational housing, I don’t want my students to live with the trauma of wondering if they made grandma or grandpa sick and if they were the reason they died. I am not wanting my students to face those kinds of questions.

My students are scared. They are scared about Covid. Your kids might not be, but what kind of place of privilege do your kids come from? If you asked a student of color how they felt, nine times out of ten, they would tell you they are SCARED about this pandemic and scared about where their next meal is coming from. All of my students of color depend on those free lunches that come from our schools (shout out to Minneapolis and St Paul Public Schools for providing millions of meals during this crisis!).

We are in this situation of distance learning because this country has chosen not to pay into public education and now we are reaping the consequences of asking teachers to do more with less.

I’m not even going to touch all the dog whistling that’s been happening to white supremacists during this 4 year term of Trump’s. I won’t even touch the “stand down and stand by” that we heard in the first debate. White supremacy has. to. stop. We are slowly killing this nation, and we (if you’re looking for it) are no where near that “dream” that MLK, Jr envisioned.

I text my male friends of color when they leave from hanging out somewhere and beg them to text me when they get home. I know the risks it involves being black in America.

I also know my privilege as a white woman.

Police brutality is not just a myth, it’s an actual tracked reality. George Floyd’s death just magnified what many of us are already seeing.

I live in fear as an educator, hoping my black boys will stay safe every weekend and hoping they come back to me on Monday. I can’t explain the weight on my soul that that is.

COVID-19 has also profoundly affected our communities of color. That choice you make to not wear a mask is not just a personal choice but its a racial choice to propagate a virus that is hurting our families of color at an alarming rate.

You might not see the ripple effect your choice has just made if you were to have Covid-19 and pass it on to others. But that ripple effect is there and it’s having a profound effect on our students and families of color.

Again, I have zero interest in arguing, but all this to say….

I would rather have someone in the Oval Office who understands what it’s like to govern in a crisis, to govern and bring peace to the general populace and call out white supremacy when its seen, instead of pointing fingers at others and saying its fake news or not his fault.

I want a president who doesn’t vilify me as a public educator or call me names for being concerned about the safety of my students and co-workers.

I want a president who honors this world we live in and looks for ways to protect it, not hurt our environment even more.

I want a president that I can point my students and my children to someday and say, this is a man who governed with dignity and respect in a time of unrest and uncertainty.

I’m a pro-life Christian, and I’m standing behind my choice in voting for Biden and Harris.

To my friends who feel similarly, if this is you, know you aren’t alone. You are seen and your concerns are valid. Our salvation, thankfully, does not depend on our vote.