WHITE HOUSE

Obama Calls To Support Georgetown Law Student

Updated: March 2, 2012 | 1:37 p.m.
March 2, 2012 | 1:25 p.m.

Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke, who became the face of the contraception debate on Capitol Hill after she was excluded from a House Oversight Committee hearing about birth control and religious freedom, spoke on the phone with President Obama Friday just before going on-air at "Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

“He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women," Fluke told Mitchell. "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 appreciated that very much.”

Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show host, on Wednesday talked about Fluke, calling her a “slut” and “prostitute.”

John J. DeGioia, the president of Georgetown University, also defended Fluke, writing in a letter to the Georgetown community that Fluke provided a "model of civil discourse". Some of those who disagreed with her position, including Rush Limbaugh, "responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student," DeGioia wrote.

 

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