CARA SANTA MARIA: Hi everybody. I'm Cara Santa Maria. As you all know, Rush Limbaugh made some comments this past week that raised more than a few eyebrows. In addition to being anti-woman, what he said is fundamentally anti-science:
RUSH LIMBAUGH: What does it say about the college co-ed "Susan" Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? Makes her a prostitute.
CSM: First of all, her name is Sandra Fluke, and she's Georgetown Law Student who was testifying before congress on behalf of a classmate whose birth control was not covered by her insurance plan. See, the Obama Administration's new health insurance regulation would ensure that her friend's insurance company would pay for contraception for the reason she needed it, to control her ovarian cysts. Not for the reasons Rush claims:
RL: She wants to be paid to have sex. She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex.
CSM: Wow. I have to admit that I'm almost impressed by how little scientific reasoning went into that statement. I reached out to Dr. Shari Brasner, a New York City obstetrician and gynecologist, to pinpoint the five most important things Rush Limbaugh does NOT understand about pharmaceutical contraception.
SHARI BRASNER: So, first of all, you don't take the birth control pill every time you have sex. It's designed to be used each and every day, whether you're having sex once a month, once a week, or every day. The second thing is you can use birth control for other reasons. And a lot of my patients use it simply to control their cycle. The third thing is using birth control pills to control dysmenorrhea, or bad periods. It really helps with the cramps, or the nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea associated with them. Gynecologists and dermatologists use birth control pills to control mild to moderate cystic acne. Lastly, we use birth control pills to treat medical conditions, like endometriosis or premenstrual dysphoric disorder. It really can help with a whole list of diagnoses.
RL: So Miss Fluke, and the rest of you Feminazis, here's the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it, and I'll tell you what it is. We want you post the videos online so we can all watch.
CSM: Oh, Rush. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
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