I read a letter by Michael Cameron from Winthrop (“Fluke a soldier in a non-war against women’s health,” March 17) defending Rush Limbaugh’s outrageous verbal attack against Sandra Fluke, who was denied the right to testify before a Senate committee made up of men about women’s reproductive health care.

Her testimony, while not allowed in the congressional hearing, was read by her and was available on radio and television programs. It had nothing to do with her wanting the government to pay for her to have sex.

She discusses the need for all women, regardless of income, to have access to health care and then talked about a friend who had a fairly common condition. This condition can cause dangerous bleeding in some women if it isn’t treated by low-dose hormones (birth control pills), which women who have low-paying jobs cannot afford.

This condition can be very painful and causes many woman to take several days off work each month if the pain and the bleeding are not controlled. Women who can least afford to miss work usually do not have insurance, or they have insurance that will not pay for birth control.

Fluke’s friend almost died from the bleeding because she had a job at which insurance did not cover birth control for religious reasons.

Fluke’s testimony can be heard online at Democracy Now (www.democracy now.org). More about the medical condition (uterine fibroids) can be learned at the federal health care website.

Unfortunately, Fluke will have to live with the fact that her good name was maligned and that she was shamefully ignored while trying to educate a congressional committee about a serious medical condition.

Sheila Malone

Waterville

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