The following would never happen in Britain…
On 23 February, Georgetown Law School student Sandra Fluke (pictured) testified at a congressional hearing in support of President Obama’s ruling that religiously affiliated institutions, including some universities, should provide insurance plans that cover all costs for medicinal contraceptives.
In response, rightwing US radio host Rush Limbaugh branded Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute”, before imploring her to post videos of herself having sex online.
“What does it say about the college co-ed Susan [sic] Fluke who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex,” said Limbaugh.
“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.”
On Thursday, Limbaugh added:
“If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you post the videos online so we can all watch.”
Then on Friday, Fluke received a call from President Obama, offering his support to her and expressing his disappointment that she was the subject of “personal attacks”
Yesterday, Limbaugh apologised.
“I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms Fluke,” he said, before adding: “I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress.”
Meanwhile in UK law student news, the College of Law (CoL) is preparing to launch an LLB law degree at its Guildford centre.