LOS ANGELES, CA, January 31, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Sandra Fluke, who rose to prominence after testifying in favor of the president's abortion drug and contraception mandate in 2012, is considering a run for Congress.
According to The Hill, Fluke says she is “strongly considering running” and will “be making my decision soon.” The seat is currently held by Representative Henry Waxman, a Democrat who has sat in Congress since 1974. Waxman represents the 33rd Congressional District of California, and is retiring at the end of the current Congress.
Fluke came to national prominence in February 2012 after she testified at an unofficial hearing held by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, on the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) contraception and abortion drug mandate. Fluke, then a 30-year old law student and reproductive “rights” advocate at Georgetown, said that “without insurance coverage, contraception can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school.” She also cited anecdotes of women suffering physical ailments without contraception coverage.
Her comments led radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh to call Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” for “essentially say[ing] that she must be paid to have sex.” Limbaugh eventually apologized, saying his words “were inappropriate.” The controversy put Fluke on the national political scene, and she eventually spoke at the Democratic National Convention later that year.
The Hill reports Fluke is one of many potential candidates for what could be a crowded race in the heavily Democratic district. One of them is State Senator Ted Lieu, who in 2012 introduced a ban on sexual orientation preventative and reparative treatment. Lieu said “the whole point of the bill” was to “attack … parental rights … because we don’t want to let parents harm their children.”
Fluke's public policy positions regarding life are in line with the Democratic Party platform. She has spoken in favor of same-sex “marriage,” and on the campaign trail in 2012 said that “equality” consists of “the ability to control your reproduction so that that a career is a realistic goal and something that can be achieved and not derailed” by children.
If elected, Fluke would replace one of the House's leading liberals. Waxman served as Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment from 1979 through 1994, and in 2007 became Chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee. He was influential in getting cap-and-trade passed through the House in President Obama's first term, though that bill was stopped in the Senate.
He helped push the Affordable Care Act through Congress, and has consistently voted against pro-life legislation. He opposed the partial-birth abortion ban in 2003 – which eventually became law – supports federal funding for abortions, and opposed the pain-capable abortion ban that passed the House in 2013.
Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Senior Fellow of the Beverly LaHaye Institute of Concerned Women for America, told LifeSiteNews.com that America “has become a nation of instant celebrity. Since when is a law school student qualified to run for the House?”
“We should have known this was coming,” continued Crouse. “The Democrats knew they had hit pay dirt when they found an attractive, articulate law student who could bamboozle the public into believing that she was worthy of their financial support of her sex life and that of all other coeds.”
Crouse also criticized Fluke for using law school as “cover for her flamboyant feminist campaigns.” She said that Fluke wants to “[override] all barriers of religious liberty and conscience protections in order to get free contraception and abortion-on-demand.”
Concerned Women for America CEO Peggy Nance added that she hopes Fluke runs.
“It would be fun to watch. Sandra Fluke's only accomplishment is begging for taxpayer's money to fund her birth control,” said Nance. “We support qualified women running but she's the antithesis of the ideal candidate.”