Obama calls Sandra Fluke, Georgetown law student assailed by Rush Limbaugh
Wading further into an escalating contraception battle that has put Republicans on the defensive, President Obama on Friday called Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University law student who this week was derided as a “slut” and a “prostitute” by conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh for her defense of rules mandating that employer-provided insurance plans cover the cost of birth control.
The call by Obama -- a rare one from the president to a private individual -- comes amid an intensifying political fight over religious-affiliated institutions and contraception, a battle in which Democrats accuse Republicans of waging a “war on women” and Republicans say that Obama is working to curtail “religious liberty.”
The president’s call is a signal that the White House, like Democrats more broadly, believes it has the upper hand on a hot-button issue that does not appear to be leaving the political spotlight anytime soon.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Friday afternoon, Fluke discussed the call from Obama, which took place shortly before she appeared on the program.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/obama-calls-sandra-fluke-georgetown-law-student-assailed-by-rush-limbaugh/2012/03/02/gIQAIoW0mR_blog.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
“He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women,” Fluke told Mitchell of the call with Obama. “And what was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud. And that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So, I just appreciated that very much.”
Very cool, Mr. President.
