'Obamacon' Denied Communion

The question of whether pro-choice Catholic politicians should take Communion is a familiar one in election years, but in 2008 it has a new twist. A Repubilcan abortion opponent, onetime Reagan administration official, and private citizen who supports Barack Obama was denied Communion in April. EJ Dionne of the Washington Post tells the story of Douglas Kmiec, "one of the nation's leading 'Obamacons.'"

Dionne zeros in on a church statement that "suggests that Catholics can support pro-choice candidates, provided the purpose of their vote is not to promote abortion." Says Kmiec: "To think you have done a generous thing for your neighbor or that you have built up a culture of life just because you voted for a candidate who says in his brochure that he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade is far too thin an understanding of the Catholic faith." (More Barack Obama stories.)