puts in his two cents

Bishop Donald Wuerl said pro-abortion rights legislators should stop receiving Holy Communion of their own accord, but he said he would not withhold the sacrament, as another bishop indicated he would in the case of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry, a Catholic whose public position is to support abortion rights.

Wuerl said the Vatican does not speak of sanctions against those in public life who do not live up to the “grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life.”

He said it was up to the individual to listen to the church’s teachings on abortion and then make a determination on receiving communion, rather than for the bishop to decide. But he did say it was up to each bishop to make the decision to impose sanctions.

Full text of his remarks