Sandra Fluke, the former Georgetown Law student who found herself in the national spotlight when Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut” for her stance on birth control coverage under health care laws, took the stage last night at the Democratic National Convention to support President Obama.

Fluke made it clear that she thinks a future under Mitt Romney’s reign would be like taking a step backwards where females are concerned, referencing his failure to speak up on her behalf when Limbaugh blasted her on his radio show.

“Our president, when he hears a young woman has been verbally attacked, thinks of his daughters — not his delegates or donors — and stands with all women,” she said. “And strangers come together, reach out and lift her up. And then, instead of trying to silence her, you invite me here — and give me a microphone — to amplify our voice. That’s the difference.”

A well-known feminist, Fluke has championed causes such as free contraceptives and rights pertaining to women’s health care–including emergency abortions–and pointed out that Romney and his party don’t believe in running a country which holds women’s rights as important.

According to Fluke, the country under Romney’s charge would be “an America in which states humiliate women by forcing us to endure invasive ultrasounds we don’t want and our doctors say we don’t need. An America in which access to birth control is controlled by people who will never use it; in which politicians redefine rape so survivors are victimized all over again; in which someone decides which domestic violence victims deserve help, and which don’t.”

The speech earned her quite a bit of praise, but of course the topics she addressed are ever-controversial and raised some eyebrows in the Republican camp, where she was blasted once again.

Image credit: Amy Gardner/The Washington Post