Burqa Banning: Imposing Religous Freedom or Bringing Freedom to Muslim Women?

Recently in France there was a vote to ban face covers including burqas. The measure must still go to the French Senate before it becomes law. The Senate is expected to vote on it in the week of September 20, Other European countries have hoped on board with banning burqa's or are at least discussing the possibility.

When first learning about this news I had a range of different feelings about the issue. At first I felt that a ban was a bit extreme and imposed on religious freedom. But then again, the burqa was only recently imposed on women and that it really has little to do with Islam, rather the government imposing these extreme morals.
 

This is a dicey subject because a burqa can represent a number of different things.Some women who may wear a burqa do so as a choice,  seeing it as a way to connect to God and show her faith. Others do so out of sheer protection from being a social outcast, who would be seen as a whore tempting men if not covered  or worse, raped and beaten. "Asking for it" so to speak, which isn't an unfamiliar phrase we hear rapist say anyways in a culture where burqa's are not the norm.

I'm curious to know how others feel about the recent decision France made about banning burqas....do you feel that it imposes on religious freedom? Do you agree that most women who wear burqas are forced to so banning them is a step towards more freedom? Could banning the burqa lead to more violence towards women by not covering themselves?

*To find out more about this please view Claire Berlinski's article.