What does it say about the college co-ed Susan 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. She's having so much sex, she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We're the pimps. The johns. That's right. We would be the johns. No! ... Pimp's not the right word. Okay, so she's not a slut. She's round-heeled. I take it back.
Rush Limbaugh is referring to the testimony provided by Sandra (not Susan, you big fat gasbag) Fluke, who appeared at a congressional hearing held by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on the subject of the Obama administration's new health care mandate to cover birth control. Fluke is a third year student at Georgetown Law and a past president of Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice. In her prepared remarks, Fluke expressed her gratitude for the new policy that "implements the nonpartisan, medical advice of the Institute of Medicine" and that "the new regulation that will meet the critical health care needs of so many women."
She then went on to explain what a financial burden it is for her fellow female students whose insurance does not cover birth control.
In the worst cases, women who need this medication for other medical reasons suffer dire consequences. A friend of mine, for example, has polycystic ovarian syndrome and has to take prescription birth control to stop cysts from growing on her ovaries. Her prescription is technically covered by Georgetown insurance because it’s not intended to prevent pregnancy. Under many religious institutions’ insurance plans, it wouldn’t be, and under Senator Blunt’s amendment, Senator Rubio’s bill, or Representative Fortenberry’s bill, there’s no requirement that an exception be made for such medical needs. [...]
For my friend, and 20% of women in her situation, she never got the insurance company to cover her prescription, despite verification of her illness from her doctor. Her claim was denied repeatedly on the assumption that she really wanted the birth control to prevent pregnancy. She’s gay, so clearly polycystic ovarian syndrome was a much more urgent concern than accidental pregnancy. After months of paying over $100 out of pocket, she just couldn’t afford her medication anymore and had to stop taking it.
Oh no! Wanting insurance to cover treatment for polycystic ovarian syndrome? What a whore!
Clearly, there is a big fat boatload of fail in Limbaugh's minute-long tirade, starting with getting her name wrong and moving right along to how she never once in her testimony requested that she be paid for having sex. Nor did she say she's having so much sex that the cost of contraception is overly burdensome. Probably because Fluke wasn't there to talk about her own sex life. And, oh yeah, the amount of sex a woman has does not affect how much birth control she needs. See, whether you're having sex morning, noon and night—or whether you're having no sex at all—the pill works the same way. One a day.
Of course, maybe Rush's confusion comes from his own use of sex-related pills:
Limbaugh was detained for more than three hours Monday at the airport after returning from a vacation in the Dominican Republic. Customs officials found the Viagra in his luggage but his name was not on the prescription, said Paul Miller, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
So if taking birth control pills makes you a slut, I guess taking Viagra pills makes you a limp dick. Right, Rush?