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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Pennsylvania lawmaker defended Rep. Patrick Kennedy on Monday against a bishop who has acknowledged asking the Rhode Island congressman not to receive Holy Communion because of his support for abortion rights.
“We don’t legislate at the orders of the Vatican, we legislate what is in our conscience and what we think is good for our country,” said Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat and Catholic who supports abortion rights.
Patrick Kennedy is the nephew of John F. Kennedy, the first Roman Catholic elected president. He and Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, who oversees the most heavily Catholic state, have clashed for weeks over health care reform.
