President Barack Obama has offered his support to a US law student called a "slut" on Wednesday by rightwing talkshow host Rush Limbaugh because of her views on contraception. According to White House spokesman Jay Carney, the president called Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke on Friday and expressed his disappointment that she was the target of Limbaugh's personal attacks. Obama reportedly thanked Fluke for supporting his administration's policy of requiring health insurance coverage of contraceptives for women.
The call came moments before Fluke was set to appear on the TV news network MSNBC. Speaking to host Andrea Mitchell about the president's call, Fluke said: "What was really personal for me was [that] he said to tell my parents that they should be proud."
Limbaugh called Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" on Wednesday after she expressed her support for the administration's policy in an informal testimony on Capitol Hill.
Then, on Thursday, on his nationally syndicated radio show, he added: "So, Miss Fluke, if we are going to … pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."
Limbaugh's outburst has already prompted some advertisers to pull their support for his controversial show. Following heavy pressure from the Democrats, House speaker John Boehner described Limbaugh's comments as "inappropriate". Boehner argued, however, that the Democrats were using the incident as an opportunity to raise money.
On Friday, Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel, echoed the concerns, saying: "The speaker obviously believes the use of those words was inappropriate, as is trying to raise money off the situation."
At last month's hearing, Fluke pointed out that her fellow Georgetown students pay as much as $1,000 a year for contraceptives that are not covered by student health plans.
On his show on Wednesday, Limbaugh equated the payment to prostitution.
"What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute," he said.
"She wants to be paid to have sex … She's having so much sex she can't afford contraception," Limbaugh added.
Georgetown – itself a Jesuit school – has, along with a number of other Catholic institutions, denounced the Obama administration's contraception policy as an infringement on their religious rights.
Rather than apologize, Limbaugh has stood by his inflammatory rhetoric. On his Thursday show, he referred to a controversial joke made by Rick Santorum's wealthy backer, Foster Friess, suggesting women should hold aspirin tablets between their knees in order to remain abstinent.
"I will buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want," Limbaugh said.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is gathering signatures for an online petition calling on Republican leaders to "denounce Rush Limbaugh's cruel tirade against women".
Fluke responded to Limbaugh in a written statement, saying: "No woman deserves to be disrespected in this manner. This language is an attack on all women, and has been used throughout history to silence our voices."
