Abortion Rights and Progress

As we study "progress" and what exactly progress is, I began to think about how people view abortion. Since the U.S. separated with Britain, increasing individual freedoms has been a definition of progress. And when it comes to abortion, it seems unlikely that the government would take away a woman's abortion rights, when in the past, the government has progressed and even gained support by giving people more freedom. Taking away someone's right to a choice seems to be regressive rather than progressive. However, I found an article that presented a different perspective. Catholic Bishops at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops General Assembly approved a statement saying that if the Freedom of Choice Act was enacted, they would consider it an attack on the church, because it would reduce religious freedom, and "Church leaders also said they are concerned that any expansion of abortion rights could require Catholic hospitals to perform abortions or face loss of federal funding." I had never thought of abortion rights as an infringement on religious freedom. Still, the law would allow Catholic patients to decide whether or not an abortion is right for them, so really, I don't believe the law is reducing any individual religious freedom, just the freedom of a catholic institution to choose what it offers its patients. Even after seeing the Catholic perspective, I believe that the Freedom of Choice act is an important step in moving America forward.