Thanks to WikiLeaks, the world now knows that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign includes *gasp* liberal Catholics. In case you have yet to read the hacked emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta back in 2011, all you need to know is that several Catholics from the Clinton campaign privately underwent two email exchanges that discussed their opinions on reforming the Church and used politically questionable language about Catholics and evangelical Christians in the process.

Conservative Catholics and Trump supporters responded in outrage, claiming the emails and Hillary Clinton’s entire campaign “anti-Catholic.” In reality, the emails discuss “backwards gender relations” and the Catholic “conservative movement.” Both points appear to do nothing more than suggest that the Church’s teachings must evolve in order to create an influential impact in the evolution of modern society.

By evolution, I am referring to the concept that the further our community learns about the various factors of inequality that play into our country’s society, the more we question what can be done to ensure justice and freedom for all.

As a liberal Catholic myself, I see no reason for any other righteous Catholic to be upset with the opinions stated in the emails. If anything, other than the unfair remarks thrown towards evangelical Christians, I would go so far as to say I agree with the leaked statements.

To me, to be a follower of Christ means to speak for the voiceless, defend the defenseless, and assess the social institutions in place that leave no option for those in poverty. To me, saying that I believe in equal opportunity, freedom for all, and speaking for the defenseless means that I fight for the rights of every individual regardless of race, religion, economic status, citizenship status, sexuality, gender, able-bodiedness, or age. To fight for both the young and old means that I am pro-life. From the moment of its conception, I believe a child deserves the same rights as its mother and father. Regardless of the amount of discomfort a pregnancy may cause a child’s parents, no human being should have the right to take another human being’s life. Considering that Trump is pro-life and Clinton pro-choice, you may still be wondering why I choose to vote for Clinton. The fact is, the answer isn’t as simple as just picking a side.

To vote for Trump simply because he is against abortion is to ignore the economic and health issues that often force women to have abortions in the first place. Christian political consultant, Eric Snapp said it best, “Do we care more about talking about the unborn or do we actually want to do something to prevent abortions?”

Recent statistics show that the 2 biggest indicators that a woman will have an abortion are that she is poor (75% of women who have abortions make less than $23,000 and half make less than $11,000)and had an unintended pregnancy (half of US pregnancies are unintended, and 43% end in abortion).

Most abortions are done with great reluctance and are usually (up to 3/4 of the time) the result of a woman’s incapability to financially support a child. While this does not make abortion okay, the solution is not to ban all abortions, but to inform potential parents of the various ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy and the other options that are available after a mother-to-be becomes pregnant.

Instead of guilting mothers out of abortions through horrific images of the murder of their children (children that many times, they do not want to abort, but feel they cannot keep for various financial and health reasons) society should be standing up to implement new methods that will help pregnant mothers improve their financial situation through education or new career opportunities for themselves, and childcare to support their attempts to better their living situations. Studies indicate that 1 in 5 abortions are performed on women under the age of 25, most estimated to be in college.

History shows that the Democratic party has been more effective in reducing poverty and as a result, unwanted pregnancies. Journalist Eric Sapp claims that even if the “impossible happened and Roe (Roe v. Wade) is overturned: leaving each state to decide if they’ll allow abortions… Only about 10% of abortions take place in states with legislatures that have seriously tried to limit abortion. So if abortion was outlawed in all those states, and no woman crossed state lines to get one, the most overturning Roe would achieve is a 10% reduction in abortions. Compare that to nearly 40 years of data showing that we would save more than three times as many unborn children by cutting the number of poor women in half. Increase contraception access, family leave, and improve pre- and post-natal healthcare and we’d cut abortions by 50 percent or more.”

Clinton also supports late-term abortions when a woman’s life is put at risk, as she mentioned during the final presidential debate. So even though many pro-life supporters like to read pro-choice as a pro-abortion standpoint, in Hillary Clinton’s case, pro-choice means access to further resources that will either prevent unplanned pregnancy, save the mother’s life during health complications that occur during pregnancy, or provide options to better the living conditions of a family that is expecting.

In the end, it all comes down to looking at a bigger picture. As much as I support saving the lives of unborn children, I also support saving the lives of the refugee children dying from war and poverty. I support creating an environment where an individual is not judged by the color of their skin, the address of their home, or a piece of government paper. What part of the bible constitutes an individual’s social privilege as a natural right? The country borders you were born in do not determine your value, nor do they constitute which lives God will praise you for saving. Did Jesus Christ not say, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” (Matthew 25:36)

That which we do to the least of our brothers we do to him:

I do not throw a stone at the woman who was caught in adultery.

I do not see a child, victim to violence on the street and accuse him of a crime he did not commit.

I do not turn away a student whose family has sacrificed everything so that their children may live a safe, educated, and honest life.

I do not turn away the child who has lost everything because they cannot be trusted.

I do not mock those that were not born with the privileges I now enjoy.

I am a Catholic, and because of the morals and values that I believe in, I cannot support Donald Trump.