Yet Another Reason Why I Love Georgetown

A short time ago, I blogged about women's health and about how, in the months preceding the 2012 presidential election, my views on the social issues that are coming to light in the context of the election are becoming increasingly clear to me.  The thing that frustrates me the most in the debates over contraception, abortion and a woman's place in the workforce is that women seem to be losing our agency in the debate. 

This past week, Sandra Fluke, a third-year Georgetown Law student and a former president of Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice, was embroiled in a very public attack on her character after she testified before a Democratic mock panel in support of HHS' proposed mandate that would require all employers, even the religiously affiliated, to provide free access to contraception for their employees.  In response, Ms. Fluke was lambasted by Rush Limbaugh, in my opinion one of the most deplorable human beings on the face of the earth, who has made a career out of spewing off inflammatory comments in order to elicit a response.  His comments are not fit to be repeated here, and, in fact, I had a great deal of difficulty making it through the videos and articles I read detailing his response.  His comments were not only a direct and inappropriate attack on Ms. Fluke's character, but also an attack on all women.

News sources quickly picked up the story, and such an uproar was caused that many lawmakers even wrote a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, urging him and the rest of Republican senior leadership to reprimand Mr. Limbaugh for his disgusting comments.  Now, I would agree that the letter was very extreme, but, despite the fact that Mr. Limbaugh is protected under the law to freely express himself, his comments never should have been made.  He insulted a woman he had no knowledge of, calling her a "slut" for wanting free access to contraception (a very costly drug treatment if not covered by insurance)...but then saying that, if she wants to have so much sex, she should at least videotape it and put it on the internet for the viewing pleasure of others.  Way to make yourself look good, Rush.

However enraged I may have been by Limbaugh's rampage against Ms. Fluke, I could not have been more pleased by the response of politicians and of the Georgetown community.  President Obama called Ms. Fluke personally, and not only applauded her for taking a very public stand on an issue she is so clearly passionate about, but also reassured her that her family (which, I learned from an interview she conducted, is of a different political persuasion than she is) should be proud of her, contrary to what Limbaugh had suggested.  Point for Barack.  Then, John J. DeGioia, the President of Georgetown University, circulated an email to the campus community voicing his strong support for Ms. Fluke's respecful civil discourse, calling for everyone in the campus community to engage in such discourse, even if they are of a different opinion.  I was truly touched by his statement, because, being that President DeGioia is the president of the country's pre-eminent Catholic and Jesuit university, he is required to side with the Church on certain moral issues (even if those beliefs may not align with his own).  So, even if he does not personally agree with what Ms. Fluke is proposing, his strong support for her as a person and for her right to express her own personal beliefs brought tears to my eyes.  The president of a Catholic and Jesuit organization is not the first person I would have pegged to release a statement of that kind, but I think that it was truly significant, and, in a way, I believe it confirmed the fact that women should be their own agents, their health should not be dictated by men.  Point for DeGioia (and for the Jesuits).  Hoya Saxa.  I am so overwhelmingly proud of my University, and of Sandra Fluke for taking a stand that is so important to me as well.

For further analysis of President DeGioia's letter, I think that Jon Meacham did a very nice job. 

Post about anniversary weekend to follow :-)