I don't know if it's because Bill O'Reilly's former producer refused to submit to his amorous advances, but Bill O'Reilly does seem to have a problem with strong women who stand up for their rights. Since Sandra Fluke's speech before a group of Democratic members of congress, O'Reilly has added his voice to the circle of right wing male jerks whose resentment of Fluke's advocacy for women's reproductive rights resulted in a cacophony of slut shaming. O'Reilly suggested that, rather than balloons, condoms would drop on Fluke during her speech at the Democratic Convention. He claimed that she "smirked" during her speech. And during last night's "Talking Points," he attacked Fluke again. But rather than just engage in insulting personal invective, he seems to have told a flat out lie about Fluke's alleged support for taxpayer supported gender reassignment surgery.
Last night, O'Reilly said this: "Now the performance today, the importance of it is that it shows America that the Democratic Party is not unified, there are moderate Democrats and there are far-left loons. And the loons have a lot of power. I mean think about it. Sandra Fluke wants us to pay for her birth control and not only that. She now wants us to pay for transgendered medical treatment. That means if Harry wants to become Sally, Fluke wants us to pay for it and she is a featured speaker at the Democratic convention, not someone mumbling on a corner."
The anti-choice, anti-Obama forces loathe Sandra Fluke because she spoke about the unfairness of Georgetown University's health care plan which covers birth control for employees and staff (Oh, my, at a Catholic school, no less!!) while students, who pay for their health care plan, are required to pay for their birth control. But for the right wing, and their media mouthpiece, Fox News, Fluke's testimony has been spun into a bogus narrative that Fluke is a selfish, slutty bitch who just wants free birth control courtesy of the taxpayers. In their quest to vilify Fluke, the right wing has gone into her past writings to show that she not only wants free birth control. If you google Sandra Fluke and transgender surgery you will find pages of material from right wing sources about how Sandra Fluke, in addition to advocating for free birth control, "pushed" for sexual reassignment surgery to be covered by health insurers. Fluke advocacy is seen as proof that Fluke is a liberal tool who is pushing radical agendas.
While the actual article, written by Fluke and Karen Hu, in the "Georgetown Journal Gender and Law," is available with cash only, it is summarized on a number of sites. The title of the article is "Employment Discrimination Against LGBTQ Persons." In the article, the authors describe "discrimination in benefits that they believe LGBTQ individuals face in the work place" such as discrimination that limits access to health benefits for LGBTQ workers. Fluke and Hu cite denial of health care coverage for sex change operations as a "prime example" of LGBTQ health care discrimination. They report that insurers don't cover this surgery because they consider it "cosmetic" while Fluke and Hu believe that it is medically necessary and as such should be covered.
O'Reilly claims that Fluke wants the taxpaying "us" to pay for this surgery; but a search of the available information shows no such advocacy. The right wing sources, even Newsbusters, all refer to the egregiousness of her wanting employees' insurers to pay for it.
Bill O'Reilly's pants are on fire??? (Ewwwwww)