I feel compelled to speak up on a controversial issue, one I usually would have the smarts to stay out of. But so much rage has been filling my Twitter feed that I can’t stay silent.

I just can’t believe that people are all up in arms about Limbaugh’s “slut” comment.

Not because what he said wasn’t insensitive; it was. But have these people that are so angry at Rush ever listened to his show? He makes his bread and butter by being insensitive and spewing barb-filled rhetoric. There’s just not anything particularly special about these latest comments that, in mind is more (or less!) insensitive and unhelpful.

Now that we’ve opened the can of worms, what are my thoughts?

Well, I am a single woman that has used birth control for medical reasons. I actually know many women that are prescribed birth control for therapeutic reasons, not because they’re necessarily using it to prevent pregnancy.

When I was first prescribed these pills, I was shocked at how expensive they were with my insurance. I could get a month’s worth of each of my other prescriptions for $10 or less, but my birth control would have been $35 a month (for 24 pills) if I hadn’t had a coupon lowering it to $24. Which, with the excellent insurance coverage I had at the time, still seemed high for a fairly routine medication.

I don’t know why they are so expensive after insurance. I can only assume that they were treated differently by my insurance company because they’re not seen has medically necessary, even when they are. Was I prescribed these pills because I was a “slut”? Of course not.

I would love for my insurance to have to cover these pills at least to the same level they cover my other medications, if only for a selfish, money-saving reason.

But, do I think that religious institutions that take issue with the use of birth control be required to pay for it for their employees? Absolutely not.

I personally have a problem with using birth control pills as birth control. If I were married (and thus sexually active), I would work with my doctor to get off of birth control pills or use an alternative birth control method to prevent the pills from having any possible abortive effect.

So, yes, I understand why a religious institution with similar beliefs would not want to fund birth control pills. I believe that this is perfectly within their rights as a religious institution in this country. They are not preventing their employees from using birth control, only declining to subsidize its use.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” is a right guaranteed by our constitution. Having someone else pay for your health care, is not. When you go to work for a place, you can’t expect that they will condone or support your choices when they do not align with their beliefs.

At this point, you might wonder why I’m asserting that I have a “moderate voice.” Perhaps I do lean a little bit to the right, and I’m okay with being accused of doing so. But here is what I have to say to Rush Limbaugh and his type: stop calling names. No argument, from the playground to the Supreme Court, has ever been won by calling the other person names. A civil, reasonable discussion will never happen if we resort to name calling and raising our voices.

Of course, the same First Amendment that guarantees the free expression of religion also gives you freedom of speech. So go ahead. But just don’t be surprised if we ignore you as irrelevant and unhelpful.