Dems ask Boehner to rebuke Limbaugh over 'slut' comments

Democratic lawmakers appealed to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday for Republicans to rebuke conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh after he called a Georgetown University law student a “slut” and a “prostitute.”

Limbaugh came under fire from Democrats on Wednesday after he attacked the student, Sandra Fluke, for her testimony in a hearing about President Obama’s contraception mandate. He stood by those comments on Thursday’s show — and went a few steps further.

After saying that Georgetown students are apparently “having so much sex they’re going broke,” Limbaugh channeled earlier comments by Foster Freiss, a major donor to the super-PAC supporting GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

“I will buy all of the women at Georgetown University as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want,” Limbaugh said on Thursday’s show.

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Boehner that was signed by more than 75 lawmakers, calling for Republicans to rebuke Limbaugh’s comments “in light of their recent refusal to allow Ms. Fluke — or any other women — to testify.”

“This kind of direct attack on a private citizen is unacceptable,” the Democrats' letter stated. “Mr. Limbaugh is as free as any American to speak his mind about the political and social issues of our time, but using his radio show as a means for blatantly insulting a hard-working American with obscene and indecent language because he disagrees with her personal choices is an abuse of the public airwaves.”

Fluke also responded on Thursday, calling the comments “far beyond the acceptable bounds of civil discourse.”

“No woman deserves to be disrespected in this manner,” she said in a statement. “This language is an attack on all women, and has been used throughout history to silence our voices.”

Limbaugh's remarks won't help Republicans who have been trying to shift the debate away from contraception and toward questions of religious liberty. Democratic campaigns pounced on Limbaugh’s comments, which came on the same day that the Senate defeated an amendment to roll back the White House’s contraception mandate.

Fluke was barred from testifying at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing last month, leaving an all-male witness panel that helped Democrats frame the debate around women’s health and access to contraception.

She later testified at a hearing organized by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), where she emphasized that many women use birth control for reasons other than to prevent pregnancy.

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