Recent Pew Research data reveals a Democrat trend among women voters. A majority (56%) of women identify or lean Democrat (a 4% increase since 2015). Additionally, a majority (70%) of Millennial women identify as Democrat, a dramatic change from 56% four years ago. While many women vote Democrat from a “compassionate” perspective, here are several issues that illustrate why they should reconsider:

Poverty: “I’m a Democrat because I care about the poor” is not an uncommon statement, but is it true? Do Democrat policies actually help the poor? Welfare and entitlement programs have arguably been the greatest contributors to the breakup of urban families in the last several decades. By incentivizing lack of work, unwed motherhood and fatherlessness, welfare programs have created generational poverty and most tragically, have contributed to the loss of dignity in poor communities.

Caring about the poor should mean empowering their dignity, worth and potential by incentivizing them to be employed and self-sufficient. Conservative work-requirement policies have helped this tremendously. Seeing the poor not as social caste to be exploited for votes but as people worthy of opportunity changes their view of themselves and society’s view of their situation. Democrat welfare policies keep the poor impoverished. Conservative policies empower the poor to join the dignity of the American Dream.

Abortion: “Abortion hurts women” is not a political or religious statement. It’s a scientific fact. Whether it is increased substance abuse, increased suicide risk, or complications in subsequent pregnancies and other medical issues, abortion harms women physically and psychologically. In addition, Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, receives half a billion dollars annually from taxpayers. Giving taxpayer money to an organization built on exploiting women and profiting from their crisis is unacceptable.

Education: Women understand the value of education. When it comes to our nation’s children, educational opportunity should not be limited to a zip code. Democrat policies continue to pour more money into failing public schools, while teaching pornographic material as “education” and erasing prominent women from history over allegations of racism. This is unacceptable. Women deserve better for their families. They deserve school choice.

Guns: Women are more likely than men to be sexually assaulted, raped or to be victims of other sexual crimes. More women are the single caretakers of the home than in previous generations and more women have to walk through a dark parking garage after working late. On average, it takes 10-15 minutes for the police to respond to a call, which is inadequate to save a woman from sexual assault. For women, a gun provides safety. While not every woman feels comfortable carrying a weapon, those who do should be able to protect themselves. Her right to defend herself should be protected.

Border enforcement: Democrat policies fail to address the criminals and drugs pouring over the southern border. In 2015, 32-year-old Kate Steinly was fatally shot while walking with her dad in San Francisco, a sanctuary city. Her murderer? A five-time deported man who, at the time, was on probation in Texas for seven felonies including unauthorized reentry, narcotic manufacturing and heroin possession.

In addition, MS-13 gang members enter primarily though the southern border and commit criminal acts including extortion, robbery, prostitution, drug dealing, rape and murder following their motto, “Kill, Rape, Control.” Yes, they are “animals.”

The lack of border enforcement has exacerbated the opioid crisis, which claims 115 American lives every day due to overdose, according to the National Center for Drug Abuse. Fentanyl, an extremely powerful opioid with a lethal dose of just 2 mg, has been pouring through the southern border. CBS News reports: “The amount of fentanyl U.S. customs officials seized illegally entering the United States has more than doubled since 2016 to 1,370 pounds, with the vast majority coming in through points of entry on the southern U.S. border.” To give perspective on the drug’s potency, in a record-breaking drug bust last month, authorities in Nebraska seized 118 pounds of fentanyl. That’s enough to kill 26 million people. Women deserve common-sense border enforcement that protects our citizens from both violence and drugs.

Women are not just voters. They certainly are not ignorant dupes. They are teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, engineers and CEOs. They are daughters, sisters, aunts, wives, mothers and grandmothers. They care about their families and their communities.

Women need to reconsider their priorities and reject the toxic, victim-based identity-politics that are leading our country nowhere. Women must choose whether to view themselves as oppressed or empowered, as victims or victors, as rageful or rational.

The Democrat policies based upon the exploitation of the poor in welfare, the exploitation of women in abortion, the lack of quality education, opposition to women protecting themselves and the deliberate chaos at the border exacerbated by sanctuary cities has rendered the Democrat Party and its policies unacceptable. The truly empowered and intelligent woman should face this reality and have the courage to be a conservative.