Law should protect a private choice

As a Catholic, educated in Catholic schools and paying tuition for my daughters to attend a Catholic high school, I am totally committed to representing the six in 10 Catholic voters who believe abortion can be a moral choice made in good faith.

I was taught that God gifted us (all of us, regardless of faith) with the right of conscience. This includes the right of women (and the men in their life) to make decisions about their pregnancy. These decisions are highly personal and deserve privacy and respect.

As a former legislator, I have stood as an elected representative who happens to be Catholic, to fully value the separation of church and state. I cherish our national belief in religious pluralism. Abortion bans and restrictions are punitive and deny women their rights to make conscience-based decisions. Government has no right to restrict access to reproductive health care to any woman, including those with less ability to pay.

I know I am not alone in these beliefs and offer a call to action to join me and the majority of Americans and Catholics in saying no to those who would deny women their right to reproductive health care and abortion.

Kathleen Ryg

Vernon Hills