 Kmiec opened his piece by praising Obama's "integrity, intelligence, and genuine good will".As a result of endorsing the pro-choice Obama, Kmiec was denied Communion in May 2008 at a Red Mass for Catholic business people in California.Kmiec confirmed the incident with Nina Totenberg, NPR's legal correspondent and E. J. Dionne of "The Washington Post" wrote a column noting how John Kerry and other Catholic public officials had been threatened with communion denial in 2004 because of their pro-choice position, but the first actual denial was experienced by Kmiec, a Catholic layman.