The Roman Catholic Church doesn't prevent pro-choice politicians from receiving communion:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she felt very comfortable taking Communion during the Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, who has said supporters of abortion rights should not receive Communion.
"Communion is the body of the people of the church coming together," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference after returning from the Mass. "I feel very much a part of that."
The Speaker was effusive about the service, reading a passage from the pope’s sermon and praising his "beautiful message of hope."
Staffers said Pelosi received Communion during the service, but not from the pope himself.
She didn't receive communion today from the Pope, but she has from a pope in the past, as she explained this morning in her weekly press conference:
[W]hen His Holiness, the Holy Father, John Paul II, came to San Francisco, I had the privilege of meeting him when he landed there and also receiving communion from him at the stadium where he performed a mass. Same thing, tens of thousands of people. So, I mean, that has sustained me for such a long time
Why is there a persistent belief among many that the Roman Catholic Church denies Communion to people—especially American politicians who are pro-choice and members of the Democratic party—who don't adhere to every tenet of Church doctrine?
Because many reporters are lazy and don't bother to figure out the facts. Four years ago American Bishops voted on a proposal to deny communion to politicians, and the proposal was rejected 183-6. And why has the issue come up? Because conservative political activists who are also Catholic have tried to make it an issue. For them, Church doctrine is only relevant on issues of the crotch. The Just War doctrine, economic justice, capital punishment, none of those things matter. No, the only things that matter for them are abortion, homosexuality and human conception. And they're trying to use the Church for their partisan political goals. And as seen by idiotic questions from reporters like this, they're at least succeeding with some dimwitted media types.
There are probably doctrinal debates on why the Church shouldn't forbid communion to only some but not all of the American Catholic politicians who selectively reject as public policy aspects of the Catholic "Culture of Life." There are certain, however, dangers to the health of the American congregations if Priests started withholding communion. American Catholics reject much of Church doctrine. For instance, I've only met one person who admitted to using the rhythm method and adhering to the Church's prohibition on contraception. 53% consider themselves pro-choice. 53% support physician-assisted suicide. 61% believe abortions should be legal. 70% say the pronouncements of Bishops are not important in determining their vote. 71% support the death penalty. 72% support stem cell research. And a whopping 78% oppose denying communion to politicians who support abortion rights.
White Catholic voters are one of the key swing constituencies in a general election. Most polls show White Catholics leaning quite strongly toward Democrats for this November's election. Conservatives would love to reverse that, and to permanently peel off a lot of those voters on the abortion issue. But the Church will be very reluctant to oblige them by withholding communion to pro-choice politicians and thereby alienating 78% of American Catholics.