The problem is that it would still have to be enforced at the actual diocesan level by the bishop of that diocese. There are 230 US bishops, and only 16 have indicated that they would prevent pro-abortion “Catholic” politicians from receiving Communion.
Now, if push came to shove and the Pope issued an order of some sort, or specifically excommunicated certain individuals, other bishops would probably come forward and support him. But I am sure that in the US, there would be many bishops who would simply ignore it. This means that we have the potential for a split in the Church: the “American Church” or the “Patriotic Church,” or whatever Mahony and his ilk are going to call it, and the Roman Catholic Church. I think it will probably come to this, but I don’t think the Pope is ready to deal with this quite yet.
Maybe I’m being too pessimistic, but we have a lot of weak sisters among our bishops, and to them, being well thought of by the press and the Dem party is more important than anything else. I think a split will come soon in any case, probably over Obama’s mandated performance of abortions by health care providers, however, so it’s probably just a matter of time.
Maybe tha Pope should ex-com a few Bishops too?