When conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh used offensive words to describe a law student who supports mandated contraception coverage it set off a firestorm of criticism. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
By Msnbc.com, NBC News and and news services
Despite an outcry that has crossed political lines, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh did not back down Friday from his criticism of a Georgetown student who advocated for the availability of birth control at a recent?hearing before congressional Democrats.
During his latest show, he mocked the fact that Sandra Fluke received a phone call from President Barack Obama, insisting that given her testimony about birth control, she should "disconnect the phone. I'd go into hiding and hope the media didn't find me."
Limbaugh also denied he was opposed to birth control, according to a transcript of his show. ?This is about expanding the reach and power of government into your womb, if you're a woman. This is about the Democrat Party wanting more and more control over you.? What was early feminism all about? Emancipation, individuality, freedom, liberation, all of these things. Now here comes Danica Patrick out and she says, "I'm perfectly comfortable letting the government make my health decisions for me." Well, folks, I'm gonna tell you: Right there, that's the death and the end of feminism.?
The furor was sparked by Limbaugh's comments on Wednesday, when he branded Fluke a "slut" for her support of the administration's new policy on contraception. The radio show host repeated the charges on Thursday, saying: "Well, what would you call someone who wants us to pay for her to have sex? What would you call that woman? You'd call 'em a slut, a prostitute or whatever."
Vitals: Women roar back at Rush's rhetoric
Religious-affiliated organizations, the Roman Catholic Church and social conservatives have protested an administration policy requiring contraception coverage in health insurance provided by religious-affiliated institutions?as an infringement on religious liberty. An effort by Republicans in the Senate to overturn it failed this week.
A call from Obama
Fluke has spoken out against the Republican effort and advocated making contraception available to all women, drawing fire from Limbaugh and some other conservative commentators.
However, she has drawn broad support from Democrats. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California decried Limbaugh's comments as "outside the circle of civilized discussion and that unmask the strong disrespect for women held by some in this country." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee additionally sought donations as a result of the outrage.
The Georgetown University law student reacts to Rush Limbaugh's comments and reveals that President Barack Obama called her offering encouragement, support and thanking her for speaking out for women's rights.
"I think my reaction was the reaction that a lot of women have had when, historically, they've been called these types of names and that really I think ... and that was initially, to be stunned by it, but then to quickly feel outraged and very upset by it," Fluke said about Limbaugh's remarks Friday on the TODAY show.
On Friday, the White House?got involved.
"The president called her to thank her for speaking out ... and expressed his disappointment that she had been subjected to these kinds of attacks," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
Obama spoke with Fluke for several minutes from the Oval Office, Carney said, making clear the president was troubled by the remarks.
Woman called 'slut' by Limbaugh is 'stunned, outraged'
"He thinks they were reprehensible, they were disappointing," Carney said. "It is disappointing that those kinds of personal and crude attacks could be leveled against someone like this young law school student, who was simply expressing her opinion on a matter of public policy."
The president?s policy, which requires all employers that provide health insurance -- except for houses of worship and churches -- to provide coverage for women's contraceptives, has created a election-year firestorm. Non-employer-sponsored health insurance policies would also have to cover them.
Obama subsequently tweaked the policy so that religiously affiliated employers like hospitals, universities and charities would not be required to cover the cost, which would fall instead on insurers. That did not satisfy the Catholic Church, whose official policy rejects the use of artificial contraceptives.
GOP criticism
Limbaugh's comments have also been criticized by Republican leaders.
Speaker John Boehner did not approve of the radio host's language, his spokesman Michael Steel said Friday. "The speaker obviously believes the use of those words was inappropriate, as is trying to raise money off the situation." Steel was referring to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has started a campaign characterizing the debate over women's ?contraception as "the Republican War on Women."
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Limbaugh was "being absurd" in his comments, describing the radio host as an "entertainer" taking an absurd point of view.
Meantime, advertisers have come under pressure to withdraw their ads from his show and?at least three companies, Quicken Loans and bedding retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, bowed to the pressure.
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