Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney wave to the crowd during the final session of their convention in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 30. Romney, a Mormon, is running for president and has chosen Ryan, a Catholic, as his running mate. Shannon Stapleton / Reuters / CNS.
By M. Elizabeth Boyd
Special to The B.C. Catholic

For the first time in my 40 years as an American voter, I will be voting for a Republican candidate for president of the U.S.

As a former life-long Democrat I must share my sense that I have not left the Democratic Party; it has left me. I was always proud to stand with the party that took care of the downtrodden and fought for civil rights, but today the Democratic Party is committed to same sex marriage (part of its platform) and abortion, clothed in the euphemism of "women's health."

It has even tried to take "God" out of its platform, but that backfired and the word "God" was reinserted.
I voted for President Barack Obama four years ago. I was starting to be bothered by the party's emphasis on "women's health issues," but I thought that if anyone could lead the nation in a decent conversation on abortion it would be Obama.

I was also opposed to the war and concerned about the looming economic crisis. However today we have an administration that has passed a health-care package that forces religious employers to pay for contraception and abortion (though there is now a loophole which still permits the services but makes someone else pay for them.)

This isn't what I expected from Obama, nor is it something I can support.

As far as I am concerned, a woman's right to choose ended the day she got pregnant and became a mother. There was no doubt in my mind that when my daughter-in-law was pregnant with my first grandson this past year, he was present from the moment she conceived to the day I saw his face in her ultrasound to our meeting in the hospital on the day of his birth.

I am a Catholic, and I can no longer justify supporting a party which once supported my principles but which has now made our differences irreconcilable. When I die, I want to be able to look in God's eyes and say I did all that I could to combat the moral decline of America.

I am standing up for children, who are being aborted at a frightening rate. I do this by supporting young women who are seeking alternatives to abortion through my church community that offers financial assistance, prayer, and emotional support for those who find themselves pregnant and afraid.

I am standing firm in saying marriage is between a man and a woman, as defined in Scripture. If people say this is mixing religion and politics, so be it. I need to live a unified life where I don't leave my basic beliefs at the door when I go into a voting booth.

Our country was founded as a nation "under God," and that is what I will fight to achieve.

It is not that I have such confidence in the Republicans, since they often mouth the right words on such issues as abortion and "same-sex marriage" but don't follow through when in office. But I am willing to give them a chance and pray to God that this is will lead to others making a move toward standing up for what is right and what should be in the platform of every Christian in America.

I do this without animosity towards those who disagree with me and hope that others will see this move as one inspired by my Creator.

M. Elizabeth Boyd is a former New Yorker living in Victoria. She votes in federal American elections by absentee ballot.