It has recently become public that Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island informed Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-Rhode Island) that he should not be permitted to take Communion, due to Kennedy's failure to support anti-abortion rights legislation. According to Rep. Kennedy, the Bishop has also instructed his priests not to administer the sacrament to the Congressman should he attempt to attend Holy Communion.

The Catholic Church has used withholding of Communion as a political weapon before, most notably during the 2004 Presidential election when Archbishop Burke of St. Louis stated that he would refuse Communion to Presidential Candidate John Kerry due to Kerry's opposition to further restrictions on abortion rights (Burke instituted a similar ban in 2003 against Rep. David Obey for his pro-abortion rights stance). Others targeted include former California Gov. Gray Davis, former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, and Obama's Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Ms. Sebelius said in a 9/15/09 Washington Post interview that the ban was "one of the most painful things I have ever experienced in my life, and I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state, and I feel that my actions as a parishioner are different than my actions as a public official."

Sign this petition to express your support for our Constitution's separation of Church and State, condemn the Catholic Church's policy of political intrusion and religious exclusion, and email Bishop Tobin to express your opposition to Rep. Kennedy's ban. Feel free to edit the letter however you see fit; if you're Catholic, by all means mention that as well.

For more background, links to articles, a political protest poem about the issue, and more poems and petitions about abortion rights, see http://newsericks.com/the-blood-of-christ-not-shed-for-you.