Why this pro-life Christian is voting for Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton reacts after accepting the Democratic Party presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 28, 2016. Reuters

A lot of people don't see Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as a pro-life candidate, especially since she is one of the biggest supporters of abortion service provider Planned Parenthood.

However, Rachel Held Evans, a pro-life Christian and a New York Times best-selling author who has written "Faith Unraveled," "A Year of Biblical Womanhood," and "Searching For Sunday," says she will still cast her vote for Clinton.

"As a Christian, I believe the sacred personhood of an individual begins before birth and continues throughout life, and I believe that sacred personhood is worth protecting, whether it's tucked inside a womb, waiting on death row, fleeing Syria in search of a home, or playing beneath the shadow of an American drone," she writes for Vox.

Evans also struggled with her decisions at the ballot box in the past. She says she voted for both pro-life and pro-choice candidates such as Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008, and George W. Bush in 2004 and 2000.

This year, she is struggling some more because Clinton is pro-choice. However, Evans says Clinton's opponent, Republican nominee Donald Trump, is "an incompetent narcissist who poses a unique threat to our American democracy."

Given the two, Evans says she would vote for Clinton.

"Even though I think abortion is morally wrong in most cases, and support more legal restrictions around it, I often vote for pro-choice candidates when I think their policies will do the most to address the health and economic concerns that drive women to get abortions in the first place," she says.

Evans cares more about being pro-life than being pro-birth, since all children deserve to live in a home and culture where their basic needs would be met.

"Every mother deserves the chance to thrive. Forcing millions of women to have children they can't support, or driving them to Gosnell-style black market clinics, will not do," she says. "I believe we have to work together — pro-life and pro-choice, Democrat and Republican, conservative Christian and progressive Christian — to create a culture of life that celebrates families and makes it easier to have and raise kids. This is the only way to make our efforts to rarify abortion truly sustainable."

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