Has V.P. Biden excommunicated himself by voting Pro Choice? Canon 1398 Any politician that passes a law that promotes abortion, is automatically excommunicated. Their excommunication does not have to be public. Their action is sufficient to incur the excommunication. Under Vatican ruling, abortion triggers automatic excommunication Today, Canon 1398 of the 1983 revision of the Code of Canon Law reads: “A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.” The word “actually” indicates that the abortion must have been successful for the penalty to occur; the mere intent to have an abortion is not sufficient. That the...