Then their punishment is a matter of faith, with no traditional pain or conditioned fear factors.
Not much incentive for a heretic politician to reconsider his or her view of abortion.
You cannot honestly think the Vatican is capable of tracking down every offender worldwide and issuing decrees of official excommunication.
This form of excommunication is spelled out plainly in the catechecism.
It holds true for those who have committed grave sin and have not repented.
Any catholic who isn’t aware of this does not know much about their own religion.
Whether or not this is incentive for a heretic politician is the problem of the politician.
In the end, he/she is the one who has to answer for their actions.
If they want to try and win catholic votes while promoting abortion and still insisting on presenting themselves for communion - then that is a serious issue they will have to deal with the ultimate judge.
there are many catholics who sit their fannies in the pew on sundays during communion knowing they shouldn’t receive until they’ve confessed.