The fundamental difference between the US and Europe on this is both that the predominantly evangelical Religious Right doesn't really exist in the same way in Europe than it does in America: and in most places a legislative compromise was put together and there's no public will to re-open the conversation (and generally the pro-choice side is louder; at least it seems that way from my perspective) whilst in America it was decided through the courts system and one side was entirely dissatisfied with the outcome, so its natural that they'll carry on fighting it. In the countries that didn't do this (Ireland and Poland come to mind) abortion is still a political issue although perhaps not to the extent to which it is in America. When you think about it that way, it makes perfect sense why its an issue in the States but not in lots of other countries.
This is one of the ominous consequences of describing your views as "progressive" - it means you sometimes actually forget to provide arguments because your opinions are going to become status quo and undisputed in the near future anyway.
There seems to be something about how one party or side gets incredibly smug just before the time that they get a sudden election loss - that sort of smugness is very reminiscent of some of the Tories that I spoke to just before the UK election. Although perhaps it is more likely with people who are that type of 'progressive' - I'm not a fan of that term for very similar reasons, really.
