Congress will not be acting soon on what the Catholic Church dubbed “the most radical and divisive pro-abortion bill ever” when it launched a massive letter-writing campaign against it, congressional aides said this week.

But supporters and opponents agree that the bill known as the “Freedom of Choice Act” is closer to passing than it ever has been in the two decades it has languished in Congress — and that other measures involving reproductive issues may also be on the way.

North Jersey churches this weekend began leaving more than 300,000 postcards opposing the bill in pews and urging parishioners to send them to members of Congress. Other churches around the country are doing the same, the result of a November decision by the national Conference of Catholic Bishops to mount “an information and advocacy campaign,” said Jim Goodness, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark.

The bill states that every pregnant woman has a fundamental right to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability or to terminate after viability when necessary to protect her life or health.

“The bill is a statement of policy by Congress reaffirming our support for the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose,” said Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, a co-sponsor in 2007.

“I greatly respect those in the pro-life movement &hellip and I understand their position is based on very important matters of conscience. I respectfully disagree with them on this subject,” Rothman said.

If enacted, the bill would effectively repeal many state restrictions on abortion, such as waiting periods or parental notification. New Jersey does not have either of those requirements, but it is covered by the federal ban, which would be overridden, on a late-term procedure dubbed partial-birth abortion by opponents.

Goodness said the bill also would repeal New Jersey laws that allow doctors, nurses and Catholic hospitals to refuse to perform or assist in abortions.

“Federal law would say it doesn’t matter, you have to do something you do not believe in,” he said.

Supporters say it is not clear whether such “conscience objections” would be barred, however.

The Freedom of Choice bill has been pending in various forms since at least 1989, the farthest back an online congressional database reaches. Other North Jersey sponsors of earlier versions include Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez.

“Senator Lautenberg is a strong supporter of the Roe v. Wade decision and a woman’s right to choose,” spokesman Scott Mulhauser said.

“He also supports greater government assistance to make a number of alternatives — including social services, family planning and adoption assistance — more widely available for women facing unintended pregnancies.”

In past congressional sessions, the bill usually died in committee with no action, and it has not been reintroduced yet in the session that began this month.

But supporters and opponents agree that things changed significantly when Barack Obama became president, because he was one of the co-sponsors in 2007.

Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, said Obama promised Planned Parenthood “that this would be his first act as president, to sign the Freedom of Choice Act.”

“It’s important the American people are educated about how radical the grossly misnamed Freedom of Choice Act is,” Tasy said. “It would prevent future legislatures from passing pro-life laws in New Jersey.”

Obama riled abortion foes last week when he issued an executive order reversing the Bush administration’s ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option.

But this week, supporters of abortion rights were angry with him because he asked that House Democrats remove $200 million for contraceptives for low-income women from an $825 billion economic stimulus bill. Obama reportedly said it was interfering with attempts to get bipartisan support for the stimulus.

Obama cannot force Congress to send him the Freedom of Choice bill, and congressional aides said it is far more likely that other measures being sought by the abortion-rights movement will reach his desk sooner.

These include measures to increase funding for sex education, birth control and the drug that one side calls an abortion pill and the other calls emergency contraception.

E-mail: jackson@northjersey.com