Democrats urge Boehner to "repudiate" comments by Limbaugh on contraception testimony

UPDATED March 2, 10:36 a.m. ET

Seventy five Democratic members of Congress are urging House Speaker John Boehner to condemn Rush Limbaugh's assertion that a Georgetown University law student and women's health advocate is "slut" and a "prostitute" because she wants employers to pay for contraception.

The Democrats sent a letter Thursday to the speaker urging House Republicans to "condemn the atrocious and hurtful words spoken by Mr. Limbaugh" on his radio program Wednesday.

Using the airwaves to launch a "direct attack on a private citizen is unacceptable," said the letter, written by New York Rep. Louise Slaughter and signed by her colleagues.

"Mr. Limbaugh repeatedly used sexually charged, patently offensive, and obscene language to malign the character of this courageous young woman who has chosen to be the voice for many of her peers," the letter said, referring to Sandra Fluke, the student activist.

Led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Democrats last week held a pretend hearing while Congress was not in session to hear Fluke's testimony after she was not allowed to attend a Republican run hearing on the matter a week earlier.

Fluke's testimony barely mentioned sex. She said a year's worth of contraception costs up to $3,000 over the course of law school, and for many women, birth control is used to treat medical issues, including polycystic ovary syndrome. (Watch her testimony below.)

"That's a thousand dollars a year of sex -- and, she wants us to pay for it," Limbaugh said on his radio show Wednesday.

Limbaugh also said about Fluke: "What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her?"

"It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute."

"She wants to be paid to have sex," Limbaugh continued. "She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception."

Boehner's spokesperson declined to comment on on the letter.

New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney criticized the Republican led panel for including five men and no women, saying "any woman is more qualified to talk about women's health needs than any man."

Fluke argued that she would have been a legitimate witness.

"I'm an American woman who uses contraception, so let's start right there. That makes me qualified to talk to my elected officials about my health care needs," she said.

[erichsh]

Unbelievable how Obama has nothing better to do than to get worked up into a lather over a radio commentator. Or, more likely, feign righteous indignation just to score a cheap shot.

[No_I_Dont_believe_you]

Who is Rush Limbaugh. He's a nobody. He's a druggie, who broke the law many times but because he had enough money found a way to avoid jail time. He has no morality, and doesn't even have a college degree since he flunked out. He talks about Conservatism, but he has been divorced 3 times. His claim to fame, AM Radio broadcast. Get real people, the guy is a loser. The only thing he has is money, and that's because he is the goofy spokes-model for the uneducated drones who don't read, haven't a clue, and provide lip service to the country club republicans who need the drones to get enough votes to continue underpaying their taxes (15% tax rate to everyone else pays 25% or more). Just ignore the loser. Who cares what he says, he's an ignorant clown.

[notreich]

It might be better not to ask for these repudiations. Just ask what they think of the comments. Otherwise, they don't have to answer the question, but instead dredge up some other thing that somebody else should repudiate. And being Republicans, you know that other thing is either going to be not analagous, or totally made up.

[mdlman1]

Way to go, Rush, for calling it like it is.....!!! Pelosi, Boxer and the other Marxist Lefties are using the likes of Fluke and the other blind Leftists slaves to carry their anti-American message like the blind mice behind the Pied Piper....Remember this, Leftists: Obama goes to bed every night laughing his Kenyan ass off at your obvious stupidity....!!! Keep it up, blind mice....!!!

[Fatesrider]

A voice from the extremist fringe. Keep it up. You make the entire conservative side look like raving morons.

[txchilibowl]

Isn't she worried more about if her uterus is going to fall out before she graduates..

[JEFFinCO]

"I'm an American woman who uses contraception, so let's start right there. That makes me qualified to talk to my elected officials about my health care needs," Fluke said.

I'm an American man who gladly paid for my wife's contraception and that makes me qualified to explain why I don't want to pay for Fluke's.

[PennyDreadful]

You don't pay for contraception. The insurance company does. Is this really so difficult to understand?

[Fatesrider]

PennyDreadful, the thing the idiot zombies on the right (as opposed to the idiot zombies on the left) don't get is that this is just an additional benefit that insurance companies already offer: Paying for medications.

Contraception is the first line of defense against requiring a much more expensive, medically invasive and potentially dangerous procedure - an abortion. (Any invasive procedure carries more risks than having a non-invasive one.) In addition, it treats a great number of medical conditions that can also endanger a woman's life that has nothing to do with contraception, also making it a viable, relatively inexpensive alternative to dealing with those conditions otherwise.

What gets me about these brainless dolts is that by encouraging contraception, they prevent abortions. The ONLY entity against contraceptives is the Catholic Church - which is promoting their anti-contraceptive message through political means in violation of their tax exempt status.

The right-wing is taking this up as a means of distracting the public from other things like Keystone (which will cause overall U.S. gas prices to rise, not lower, because oil that was once used locally can be sold at higher, global prices), the overall attack on women's civil rights on a state level and to get the press off headlining every foot-in-mouth disease symptom of the moronic GOP candidates. In fact, they're setting them up to be the "moderators" in this whole thing. Unfortunately, the candidates are, to a man, dumber than a box of rocks and aren't taking the hint.

Free contraceptives for women, regardless of the reason, is a low-cost and effective step toward reducing health care costs, abortions and insurance rates (though IMHO as long as insurance companies - and the medical field in general - have any profit motive, rates will almost certainly never go down).

Hence why mandating free contraceptives was done. It HELPS people and doesn't cost tax payers a damn cent.

One would THINK a fiscally conservative party would get behind this. It makes economic and social sense. Too bad the GOP stopped doing that with Reagan.

[noloyalisti]

The Republicons are firm father figure conservatives who believe that women as not equal. And because they are physically weaker as well they are not as good and must be disciplined. By force if necessary, just like the other weak (read evil) people.

That is why I cannot figure out why any woman would willingly be a Republicon or procreate with one.

[bmoore98]

So, the president will be calling Rick Santorum and the USCCB for Larry Doyle's(HuffPo) comments soon then?

[mdaok]

Is it true that former president Clinton has asked to meet this woman in the oval office?

[mdaok]

She pay $60k a year to go to Georgetown U. Why does she expect me to pay so she can have sex? We are going down the tubes as a nation when we have people who actually support this woman. What is the next entitlement the liberals will come up with? Time for them to learn to pay their own way.

[notreich]

Nobody said anything about taxes, it's an issue of whether insurance pays for it. The same issue also has been exaggerated into a "war on Christianity" and Santorum's ridiculous Christians are on the way to the guillotine comment. Also, she was testifying on the pill's other medical applications, actually.

[Fatesrider]

notreich, don't bother trying to teach the ignorant. Almost to the person, they stopped using their brains shortly after becoming toilet trained. Fox News is slanting this as if it's an entitlement or as if it will make health insurance cost more (it isn't and it won't). They don't get that it's just mandating a medically, socially and financially responsible benefit for those who are needing to or willing to take it.

The right-wingers can't think for themselves anymore and can only parrot Fox News talking points. Two different studies prove they're less informed about things in general and usually less than people who watch no news at all.

[CNH]

Republican politicians will be unable to speak out against Limbaugh's misogynistic rant, as their lips have been continuously applied to his anal sphincter for the past decade.

[Smokey75]

Do democrats have their lips attached to Ed Shultz's sphincter since they never spoke out against him when he called Laura Ingram a **** on the air waves.

Ed even proclaims to the mouth piece of the liberal left that is the opening announcement of his show.

"The Number one Progressive Voice in America" I believe it is!