[+/-] Kerry excommunicated?

A Vatican congregation has given a boost to the case for heresy against presidential candidate John Kerry for his support of the right to abortion.

A letter by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (originally known as the Inquisition), states that Catholic politicians who persist in supporting the right to abortion are "automatically excommunicated:"

Consequently, if a Catholic publicly and obstinately supports the civil right to abortion, knowing that the Church teaches officially against that legislation, he or she commits that heresy envisioned by Can. 751 of the Code. Provided that the presumptions of knowledge of the law and penalty (Can. 15, § 2) and imputability (Can. 1321, § 3) are not rebutted in the external forum, one is automatically excommunicated according to Can. 1364, § 1.

The letter goes even further in specifying that any baptized Catholic who publicly states, "I’m personally opposed, but I support a woman’s right to choose," is in fact presumed by Canon Law to be guilty of heresy. The often cited "Cuomo" defense. A pro-choice Catholic politician who says that he is "personally opposed" to the act of abortion itself still commits Heresy by publicly supporting the civil right to choose abortion.

I get the sense this ain't over yet. Check back later for further developments.