Because the Catholic Church opposes abortion as a matter of doctrine, some Catholic bishops have refused or threatened to refuse communion, or threatened to declare excommunication upon Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. In some cases, officials have stated that ministers should refuse communion to such politicians per canon 915 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law; elsewhere, that the politicians should, on their own, refrain from receiving communion ad normam canon 916; and in other cases, excommunication has been suggested.
United States
General statements
In 2004, there was discussion of whether communion should be refused to American Catholic politicians who voted against laws banning abortion. With a few American bishops in favor of withholding communion from politicians and the majority against, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops decided that such matters should be decided on a case-by-case basis by the individual bishops. In 2005, Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh said no individual bishop should on his own deny communion to politicians because of "national ramifications", and suggested that such an action should be taken only on the basis of a two-thirds majority of all of the bishops or as mandated by the Vatican, while bishops Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix and Charles J. Chaput of Denver stated they would act on their own initiative and apply the sanctions put forward by a 2004 USCCB document entitled "Catholics in Political Life", though only, Chaput declared, in "extraordinary cases of public scandal". In 2008, Raymond Burke, former archbishop of St. Louis and assigned in that year to the Vatican, said communion should not be given to such politicians, arguing that support for abortion rights is a mortal sin that makes a person unfit for communion, and denial of communion would prevent other Catholics from thinking, because they see that pro-abortion rights politicians can receive communion, that being pro-abortion rights is an acceptable political position.
In 2008, a minority of American bishops supported denying communion to pro-abortion rights Catholic legislators, interpreting canon 915 as justifying such action. In 2009, Wuerl argued that communion was not intended to be used as a weapon and that a pastoral approach would be more effective for changing minds than a canonical one.
These statements of intent from church authorities have sometimes led American Catholic voters to vote for candidates who wish to ban abortion, rather than pro-abortion rights candidates who support other Catholic Church positions on issues such as war, health care, immigration, or lowering the abortion rate. Penalties of this kind from bishops have generally targeted Democrats, possibly because pro-abortion rights Catholic Democrats are more vocal in their support for abortion rights than the few pro-abortion rights Catholic Republicans.
Proposals to deny communion to pro-abortion rights politicians are more common in the United States. Suggested reasons for this are a politicization of pastoral practice.
While there was thus disagreement among the bishops about the opportuneness of refusing the Eucharist to Catholic politicians promoting legalization of abortion, there was unanimity regarding the moral obligation of Catholic politicians who participate in what their Church considers a seriously sinful action to refrain from going to Communion, an obligation stated on several occasions.
Main instances
20th century
The first instance of a pro-abortion rights politician being censured via denial of communion was in 1989. During a special election for the California Senate, Pro-abortion rights Catholic Lucy Killea was barred from communion by Leo Thomas Maher, then bishop of San Diego. She received communion in Sacramento with the consent of Bishop Francis Quinn. The incident brought publicity to Killea's candidacy and gained her the voters' sympathy, helping her to win the election.
In 1984, Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor, then archbishop of New York, considered excommunicating New York Governor Mario Cuomo. He also condemned Cuomo's statements that support for abortion rights did not contradict Catholic teaching, but did not suggest that Cuomo should stop receiving communion.
21st century
In January 2003, Bishop William Weigand of Sacramento said Governor of California Gray Davis, a Catholic who supported abortion rights, should stop receiving communion.