on 24 january 2009, he urged us president barack obama to listen to all voices in america without "the arrogance of those who, being in power, believe they can decide of life and death." when obama ended the ban on u.s. funding of organizations that discuss and perform abortion in the developing world, he said: "among the many good things that he could have done, barack obama instead has chosen the worst. if this is one of the first acts of president obama, with all due respect, it seems to me that the path toward disappointment has been very short."