After Rush Limbaugh went on his radio show yesterday and implied Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke was a “prostitute” and “slut” for testifying on Capitol Hill in favor of President Barack Obama’s contraception coverage rule, he sparked a media firestorm and had a suspicious package delivered to his home, but worst of all, he incurred the wrath of Brooklyn Congressman Ed Towns. Mr. Towns sent Mr. Limbaugh a letter yesterday asking the conservative commentator to apologize for his “vile” remarks.
“I will pray for you, Mr. Limbaugh. I will pray that you watch Ms. Fluke’s eloquent testimony, and that you apologize for stepping so far out of line – even for you,” Mr. Towns wrote.
On his show yesterday, Mr. Limbaugh said Ms. Fluke should be willing to make him a sex tape if she wants insurance coverage for birth control medicine.
“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 to post the videos online so we can all watch,” Mr. Limbaugh said.
Mr. Towns said he was moved to respond to Mr. Limbaugh due to the “vile nature” of his comments, which he described as “spiteful” and a “gross mischaracterization” of Ms. Fluke’s testimony.
“I am almost certain that you did not have the opportunity to watch her testimony before going on the air with your spiteful words. If you had, you would have seen that at no time did she advocate for contraception coverage for herself,” Mr. Towns wrote. “She told the story of her married, Georgetown law student friend who learned about the lack of contraception coverage only when she came to the pharmacy to fill her prescription and had to walk away, because she and her husband could not afford the prescription. She also relayed the story of her friend who ended up in the Emergency Room because she was denied contraception coverage when it was required for very legitimate medical reasons.”
As a Baptist minister, Mr. Towns said he “respects” the religious case against contraception, but he accused Mr. Limbaugh of making “blatantly false” arguments.
“As a public figure, you should consider doing a little bit of research before spreading inaccurate information,” Mr. Towns wrote.
Read the full text of Mr. Towns’ letter to Mr. Limbaugh below.
Dear Mr. Limbaugh:
I am writing to you regarding the highly inappropriate comments that you made regarding Sandra Fluke, a witness in a Congressional committee hearing. As the former chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the committee that she was originally invited to testify before, I was prompted to respond, due to the vile nature of your comments and the gross mischaracterization of Ms. Fluke’s testimony.
After learning of your remarks, I am almost certain that you did not have the opportunity to watch her testimony before going on the air with your spiteful words. If you had, you would have seen that at no time did she advocate for contraception coverage for herself. She told the story of her married, Georgetown law student friend who learned about the lack of contraception coverage only when she came to the pharmacy to fill her prescription and had to walk away, because she and her husband could not afford the prescription. She also relayed the story of her friend who ended up in the Emergency Room because she was denied contraception coverage when it was required for very legitimate medical reasons.
Mr. Limbaugh, I am an ordained Baptist minister. I respect the religious arguments being made. However, some of the arguments being raised by you and by some of the other critics of this new rule are blatantly false. As a public figure, you should consider doing a little bit of research before spreading inaccurate information.
I will pray for you, Mr. Limbaugh. I will pray that you watch Ms. Fluke’s eloquent testimony, and that you apologize for stepping so far out of line – even for you.
Sincerely,
Edolphus “Ed” Towns
Member of Congress
