# I pit Rush Limbaugh for being an idiot about birth control **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 2, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593 "2012-03-02T22:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/241 "2012-03-04T14:00:27Z")
Michael Moore had a great tweet about Rush not apologizing until he realized that it would affect his bottom line. It ended with “Who’s the prostitute now?” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/242 "2012-03-04T15:15:27Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > He didn’t mean to (repeatedly, over several days) call her a “slut”- he \*actually \*meant to call her a “slattern”. You know, 'cause it’s classier. Knowing words like that requires an education. Which is evil and leads to many -isms that go against being a True [del] American[/del] Republican. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/243 "2012-03-04T16:29:21Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > It really seems to be all about keeping women down. Presumably there are plenty of men that Rush is imagining Sandra Fluke sleeping around with. They’re simply unmentioned. It’s the women who have to be publicly shamed for having sex. The men can do whatever they want (unless it’s with another man). > (…) > As far as I can tell, it’s really about the power dynamics between the sexes. It is unfortunate that this serious issue is being played out as it does. Conservative douche-bag certainly wont make anyone take another look and re-think the whole thing but rather it will re-confirm what many already think (or, think they do). And the issue is serious b/c what I read in your post is that in order for women to take the power to run their lives as they see fit they have to put their health at risk. As if taking the power means being able to have more sex and sleep with as many partners as one wishes long-term consequences be damned. I may be misreading… Mixed up priorities in self-fulfillment aside, the dynamic you’re referring to - why not have men risk their health in order to make it easier for women to fulfill their desires? Shaming should be the least of one’s worries in this situation especially in this day and age when shaming is a tool of fame and it really has counter-effect. To me, this circus-like episode of social irresponsibility, only substitutes one version of putting women down for another. There is no real benefit to women here whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/244 "2012-03-04T16:41:52Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > As if taking the power means being able to have more sex and sleep with as many partners as one wishes long-term consequences be damned. I may be misreading… Yes, this is a complete mis-read of the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/245 "2012-03-04T17:15:45Z")
Taking away birth control hurts women who have sex with only one partner, and women like Ms. Fluke’s friend who have medical conditions that require the pill for treatment. It’s not about women wanting to pull trains with the football team, although (and this is important), if she wants to do that there is NOTHING WRONG WITH HER. Nobody calls the football team sluts in that situation, right? It takes two to tango, but only the women get that label. Men who sleep around get pats on the back, and they frequently engage in behaviors that are just as risky, if not more so. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/246 "2012-03-04T17:33:33Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > And the issue is serious b/c what I read in your post is that in order for women to take the power to run their lives as they see fit they have to put their health at risk. As if taking the power means being able to have more sex and sleep with as many partners as one wishes long-term consequences be damned. I may be misreading… Not to stray from the topic, but this is nothing at all unique to the issue of birth control. Claiming the power to choose to control anything in your own life includes the power to do things that will harm yourself or others. Exercising the right to be a licensed driver and own a car means you have the power to mow down pedestrians till the police catch you or to suffocate yourself in your closed garage with the motor running if you so choose. Exercising the constitutional right to own a gun means you have the power to shoot people till the police catch you and run the risk that your 5 year old will find your pistol in the drawer and blow his own head off. And hell yes, women can sleep with as many people as they see fit, and damn the consequences. You’d be wise to note that they can do that with or without birth control. Using birth control does not mean you are somehow obligated to have more sex with more men and put your health at risk. And not taking it does not mean you are obligated not to. So why the handwringing? ---
**Author:** ![heatmiserfl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@heatmiserfl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heatmiserfl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/247 "2012-03-04T18:08:02Z")
> [@Hooleehootoo](#): > > not one mention of Fluke’s conflation of the medical and non-medical uses of birth control pills Uh, all uses of birth control pills are medical uses. Unless you know of people who take birth control pills for cosmetic reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/248 "2012-03-04T18:45:41Z")
> [@eulalia](#): > > If there isn’t a band named “Iron Sluts” there should be. “I AM IRON SLUT!” _cues Black Sabbath_ ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/249 "2012-03-04T19:03:43Z")
> [@heatmiserfl](#): > > Uh, all uses of birth control pills are medical uses. Unless you know of people who take birth control pills for cosmetic reasons. Rush thinks contraceptives are recreational drugs. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/250 "2012-03-04T19:07:24Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Rush thinks contraceptives are recreational drugs. Like his Hillbilly Heroin. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/251 "2012-03-04T19:25:00Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Michael Moore had a great tweet about Rush not apologizing until he realized that it would affect his bottom line. It ended with “Who’s the prostitute now?” [Ron Paul agrees](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57390236/paul-limbaugh-apologized-for-personal-gain/): > [@](#): > > “He’s doing it because some people were taking their advertisements off of his program. It was his bottom line he was concerned about,” Paul said. > > Paul referred to three companies that pulled advertisements from Limbaugh’s show following incendiary remarks Limbaugh made about Fluke for testifying before a mock Congressional committee in favor of free contraception insurance coverage at Georgetown, a Jesuit university. [One company’s spokesman said that Limbaugh’s comments [“do not align [with] our values.”](http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/attack-by-limbaugh-awakens-a-stop-rush-campaign/) Another pulled out “Due to continued inflammatory comments - along with valuable feedback from clients and team members” about the remarks. > > “I don’t think he’s very apologetic,” Paul said. “It’s in his best interest, that’s why he did it.” ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/252 "2012-03-04T19:38:53Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > It is unfortunate that this serious issue is being played out as it does. Conservative douche-bag certainly wont make anyone take another look and re-think the whole thing but rather it will re-confirm what many already think (or, think they do). > > And the issue is serious b/c what I read in your post is that in order for women to take the power to run their lives as they see fit they have to put their health at risk. As if taking the power means being able to have more sex and sleep with as many partners as one wishes long-term consequences be damned. I may be misreading… No one has to put their health at risk. I can’t imagine how you get from providing birth control to requiring women to put their health at risk. But the choice of how many sex partners and how much sex a woman has ought to be that woman’s choice. It’s not our job to tell women how much sex to have. And I don’t even see how birth control is related to more sex or more partners. A woman who doesn’t wish to get pregnant needs the same amount of birth control regardless of whether she’s in a committed, monogamous, long-term relationship or selling herself to every guy in the neighborhood. Do you have any evidence that making birth control more widely available increases health risks to women. And you’re totally missing my point. I was pointing to the fact that the Republicans seem to be lining up for a fight against the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act as evidence that sex isn’t the whole issue. They are all for limiting the choices women have over their lives. Whether it’s their choice to not have a probe shoved up their vagina in order to exercise their right to get an abortion, their choice to use hormonal birth control, or their choice to leave an abusive relationship. If they aren’t using the power of government to keep women down, they are at least sending the message to women that “you’re on your own.” > [@](#): > > Mixed up priorities in self-fulfillment aside, the dynamic you’re referring to - why not have men risk their health in order to make it easier for women to fulfill their desires? I have absolutely no idea what you are referring to here, or what it could conceivably have to do with anything I said. Who’s health is risked by hormonal birth control? > [@](#): > > Shaming should be the least of one’s worries in this situation especially in this day and age when shaming is a tool of fame and it really has counter-effect. Really? There isn’t a widespread social dynamic that says that men can sleep around as much as they want, but if women do, they’re sluts? You’ve never noticed this at all? Obviously, you’re a man. > [@](#): > > To me, this circus-like episode of social irresponsibility, only substitutes one version of putting women down for another. There is no real benefit to women here whatsoever. There’s no benefit to women to objecting to them being called sluts by major media figures because they wish to use birth control? Are you calling Sandra Fluke socially irresponsible for talking about her friend being potentially denied the proper medication for her ovarian cysts? Is she the one putting women down just as much as Rush but in a different way? I can’t figure out any way to parse what you’re saying that isn’t painfully stupid. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/253 "2012-03-04T20:14:34Z")
When I paid for prescription pills instead of going to Planned Parenthood, my pills were $60ish a month. If one were taking a continuous dose, as you might to prevent/treat fibroids or other issues, it would edge the cost up by 1/4 of that, as the aforementioned $60 is for only 3 weeks of active pills. That adds up–I had trouble affording it even when I was working. Now I have no insurance and go to Planned Parenthood, and I’m paying $32 a month. Not complaining, but it’s a cost that has to be calculated into every single budget. It seems that a decent insurance policy should, at the very least, cover pills prescribed to treat or control tumors, etc. You know, policies could have a “Non-Slut Coverage” clause. And perhaps those who make use of it would sign a contract to not enjoy any sex they may have. Just ignore me, I’m rambling. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/254 "2012-03-04T20:28:57Z")
> [@heatmiserfl](#): > > Uh, all uses of birth control pills are medical uses. Unless you know of people who take birth control pills for cosmetic reasons. When I was in high school and college, birth control pills were sometimes prescribed for bad cases of acne. However, this was usually after antibiotics had been tried, repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/255 "2012-03-04T20:50:28Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > When I was in high school and college, birth control pills were sometimes prescribed for bad cases of acne. However, this was usually after antibiotics had been tried, repeatedly. Acne is still a medical condition. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/256 "2012-03-04T20:52:41Z")
Acne that bad isn’t considered cosmetic. There can be an underlying staph infection, which makes cross contamination very, _very_ dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![heatmiserfl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@heatmiserfl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heatmiserfl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/257 "2012-03-04T20:54:58Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Acne is still a medical condition. And, fortunately, sluts aren’t the only ones who get acne. Otherwise, the antibiotics wouldn’t be covered by insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/258 "2012-03-04T21:03:10Z")
\ I’m just saying that this (prescribing BC pills for acne) was not unknown back in my teens and twenties. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/259 "2012-03-04T21:20:32Z")
> [@heatmiserfl](#): > > And, fortunately, sluts aren’t the only ones who get acne. Otherwise, the antibiotics wouldn’t be covered by insurance. But I mean, once the acne is cleared, and they’re pretty, they’re going to be sluts now that they can have consequence-free sex, right? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/260 "2012-03-04T21:27:18Z")
I’m just hoping Fluke sues him for slander. Just to get him cancelled for once. Exactly how is he entertaining? You have to make sense to bust on someone or a policy. He doesn’t know anything about the pill, automatically brands “slut” on any woman who uses any type of contraception. He thinks taxpayers are paying for it; it’s the insurance companies. It’s like his brand of humor requires no knowledge whatsoever. Sort of like a comedian complaining he can’t get good mexican food in France. Well, you’re in fucking France! Not funny. Rush seems exactly like that type of comedian. On a personal note, all my life when I hear the word “Rush” I automatically hear a riff by the Canadian trio. Limbaugh has taken that away from me. When I hear the word “rush” now, all I hear the the rantings of a fat misogynist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593.md?page=14)