Rush Limbaugh is literally paying for the comments he made this week about Sandra Fluke.
On Thursday, the Georgetown University Law School student - who has been a vocal supporter of the Obama administration's decision to require insurance companies, even those used by religiously-affiliated employers, to cover the cost of contraception - was denied a chance to speak at a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing on religious liberty and birth control.
She proceeded, though, to take part in a press conference in which Fluke told the story of a friend who was prescribed birth control to deal with ovarian cysts; could not afford the cost when school insurance refused to pay for it; and has since suffered grave medical consequences as a result.
Fluke also said the price of birth control in general can be thousands a year. Limbaugh's response?
He referred to Fluke as a "slut" and a "prostitute" and added:
"If we're going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."
Limbaugh said that her speech made it clear "she's having so much sex she can't pay for it, and we should."
(NOTE TO RUSH: That's not how birth control works. You don't pop a pill each time you have intercourse.)
The issue has since taken on national prominence, with President Obama even calling Fluke and telling her her parents ought to be proud of her actions. And now the scandal has hit the Internet.
The hashtag #BoycottRush has spread around Twitter and two Facebook pages calling for a boycott have garnered more than 18,000 and 6,000 Likes by this morning. Moreover, nine companies - including Legal Zoom, Citrix Success, Heart and Body Extract, AutoZone and Quicken Loans - have pulled ads from Limbaugh's show.
Where do you stand on this issue? Should Limbaugh have referred to the student as a "slut?
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