sandra fluke

 

Born in 1981, she’s a pastor’s daughter who grew up in the uber-conservative town of Saxton, Pennsylvania. And she unintentionally became a household name after an embarrassment by the name of Rush Limbaugh called her a slut on his rancid pit-stain of a radio show because she testified in favor of requiring insurance to cover contraception.

On today's installment of Brief Biographies of Badass Bitches:

Meet Sandra Fluke.

While a law student at Georgetown, Fluke made a name for herself as she tirelessly advocated for victims of domestic violence. She was also advocate for victims of human trafficking, as well as serving as president of the Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice.

Fluke had spent time interviewing fellow students about the difficulties they faced getting birth control at the Jesuit institution. Due to that hard work and her favorable reputation, Fluke was invited by Democrats to speak at a February 2012 hearing on new Administration rules concerning the “Conscience Clause” exceptions (i.e. when people want to actively cause you harm and blame it on their interpretation of Christianity) in healthcare associated with Obamacare.

It was requested that the committee add Sandra Fluke to the first panel, which was otherwise an all-male (of course) panel of clergy and theologians. Because you know…maybe a woman’s voice in this matter might be kinda relevant?

Committee chairman Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman from California, refused to allow Fluke to testify at the hearing, stating she lacked expertise, was not a member of the clergy, and her name was not submitted in time for the hearing, when the real reason was most likely that he didn’t want the voice of someone who didn’t have a man-penis.

Fluke’s testimony didn’t once refer to her own sex life or even her own use of birth control. She spoke instead about the experiences of fellow law students she had spoken to, highlighting that women pay as much as $1,000 a year out-of-pocket for a birth-control prescription. She referred to a married woman who stopped taking the pill because she couldn't afford it, as well as a friend of hers who desperately needed the prescription for a medical condition not even related to the prevention of pregnancy and who finally gave up even trying.

Normally these hearings get little to no widespread attention, but Fluke taking the stand apparently made someone’s dick fall off, which led to the semi-sentient trash bag filled with mayo, Rush Limbaugh, sharing this fucking hot take on his radio show:

“She 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.”

Because that’s what a piece of shit like Limbaugh would get from her testimony. For SOME REASON, he has no issue with insurance companies covering Viagra and other shit that cis-dudes deem necessary, no shaming that. And he and the rest of their ilk SOMEHOW fail to see how contraception isn’t just a woman’s issue because science is hard.

Fluke was called a slut and a prostitute on a national platform, and right-wing conspiracy theorists howled that she was a Democratic operative. Rumors circulated that she changed her last name to Fluke, which we know means a random occurrence, to make it seem less like the administration and Democrats had planted her. What?

Well, to be honest, Rush Limbaugh himself had “planted her” when he decided to flap his insipid jaws and prove once again what a misogynist slag he was. The fact that she would later be appearing with President Obama on campaign stops happened directly because she was demonized and made the official face of the Republicans' war on women.

For Fluke, having to call and warn her parents about the political shit-storm she had been swept up in was probably one of the more upsetting things she had to deal with. Fucking embarrassing.

Limbaugh wasn’t the only damp wang to try to take her down. The right wing smear machine went off the rails with their irrelevant toadies jumping in to add their two-cents, such as Brock Turner clone turned web columnist, Michael Schaus, using dated phrases like “the fairer sex” and spewing forth sniveling dick-tears like “I don’t mean to be (entirely) dismissive, but does Sandra Fluke actually still matter to anyone (who are you again, dude?),” and adding, “women can’t possibly be expected to take care of their own health, right?”

The sheer lack of self-awareness with these guys is exhausting.

While Fluke says finds herself less surprised at the ongoing birth-control battles, her position as an inadvertent contraception ambassador made her realize just how fringe the anti-contraception arguments actually are – even if those making them are particularly loud, and even if the fringe ends up becoming a legal reality.

“A lot of folks have said that they’re surprised we’re still fighting about this. They’re surprised that we’re still fighting battles they thought we had won.”

Us, too, Sandra. Us, too.

Fluke passed the California bar exam in July 2012, and was admitted to practice in the state later that year. She continues to fight the good fight while advocating for women’s rights and using her voice to promote progressive female political candidates.