Obama Calls Student Attacked by Limbaugh in Birth-Control Debate

By JONATHAN WEISMAN
NYT

3:10 p.m. | Updated President Obama on Friday called a Georgetown law student to thank her for publicly backing the administration’s policy requiring health insurance coverage of contraceptives for women, despite an escalating war of words between Democrats and Rush Limbaugh.

The president made the call just before the student, Sandra Fluke, was to appear on MSNBC.

“What was really personal for me was he said to tell my parents that they should be proud,” she told Andrea Mitchell, the cable news host.

Last month, Ms. Fluke supported Mr. Obama’s policy in informal testimony on Capitol Hill, prompting Mr. Limbaugh, the conservative talk show host, to call her a “slut” and a “prostitute” for supporting the policy, even if it violates an employer’s religious beliefs.

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