In the wake of Rush Limbaugh calling a law-school student a “slut” over her stance on birth-control reimbursement, Timothy Cardinal Dolan yesterday pleaded for civility in the national debate, even as he promised to stare down the White House on its controversial contraceptives plan.
“Whatever we do and however strongly we feel, we do it charitably; we do it civilly; we don’t judge the motives of other people,” Dolan said.
“We just try — in a confident, peaceful, inviting way — to make our position felt and to invite other people to respect it.”
Dolan was giving his take on the fallout surrounding the talk-show host’s comments last week, when he derided Georgetown student Sandra Fluke for backing President Obama’s birth-control plan.
After Fluke urged Congress to force Jesuit-run universities like Georgetown to cover birth-control expenses for female students, Limbaugh compared birth-control reimbursements to getting paid for sex, calling Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute.” He issued an apology to her on Saturday.
Georgetown’s law school has come out swinging in Fluke’s defense, even as the university faces hypocrisy charges at home.
In a statement the school called the attacks against Fluke “misogynistic” and “ vitriolic.”
“Sandra Fluke provided a model of civil discourse,” said university spokeswoman Stacy Kerr. “We don’t have to agree with her substantive position to support her right to respectful free expression of her views.”
While Georgetown denies students contraception coverage, it does offer plans to staff and faculty that include reimbursement for birth control.
“If they’re going to offer it to the administration and faculty, they should offer it to the students, as well,” said law student Reid Setzer. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
Vowing to continue the fight to keep government out of the church, Dolan said after Sunday Mass: “We bishops are pretty firm in our engagement with the government and the invitation for them to restore religious freedom and to back off from this unwarranted, unprecedented intrusion into the life of the Church.
“So we don’t want to do it in a pugnacious way.”