America’s Catholic Bishops expressed a spirit of cooperation with the new president-elect stating that they would like to work with him on many issues.

Though on one issue, the Bishops promised an all-out fight if Obama took the action he said he would during the election campaign. Then candidate Obama told a gathering of abortion rights advocates at a Planned Parenthood event that he would sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act that would greatly expand abortion rights in America.

Catholic Bishops are of course opposed to abortion and they stated that they would fiercely oppose such an effort. The law would require all hospitals to perform abortion, which could open up the very real possibility of lawsuits and maybe closing of Catholic hospitals which refuse to perform abortions.

The statement issued by the Bishops read in part:

“The common good of our country is assured only when the life of every unborn child is legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies and legislation will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans and would be interpreted by many Catholics as an attack on the Church.”

Although Obama said he support such a measure as a candidate, even at one time saying it would be the first thing he would sign, the President Obama might be less keen on signing a divisive bill considering that he has spoken so often of creating a new era in Washington based on compromise and consensus. Or he might not veto such a bill if passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress.