Months after Limbaugh's 'slut' remark, Fluke focused on election WASHINGTON - Remember Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University Law School student who received a personal call from President Obama earlier this year after conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh called her a "slut" and a "prostitute" for advocating expanded access to birth control? Limbaugh later apologized, but the episode made Fluke a household name, and the face of a political battle over women's issues. A lot has changed for Fluke since then - she's graduated from law school, moved back home to Los Angeles, and she's engaged. She's studying for the California Bar exam and making occasional media appearances. But she says people still recognize her as the woman at the center of the Limbaugh controversy. We checked in with Fluke to see how things have changed since then. Q: As the spotlight has dimmed, have you been able to resume normal life? What's changed? I've always been an activist who's been speaking about these policies, it's just that more people are listening now. So in some ways, things have settled down a little bit. But I'm trying to use the opportunity to make sure as many people as possible hear about these really important questions we're faced with right now - things like whether or not women really deserve the right to fair pay, and if we're going to enact legislation that ensures that they are actually able to realize that promise. Q: Do people recognize you in the grocery store? That happens fairly regularly. That's totally fine. It doesn't bother me. People are always very kind, and thank me for trying to be a voice on some of these issues that are important. I really appreciate that support, and it keeps me going at the times when I am hearing the negative feedback. I get people writing to me and things like that. I haven't had any negative in-person situations, thank goodness. Q: Would you say it was an overall good or bad experience? I think most experiences have their high points and their low points, but I'm just trying to take it for what it was and use it in as positive of a way as possible. Q: Are you finding it easier to have your voice heard after the Limbaugh ordeal? Yeah, I would say that that's true. It's still an effort ... in their daily lives, people are going about, needing to think about getting a job and supporting their family. And sometimes it can all feel like a big political distraction. But things like fair pay have an incredible impact on our day-to-day lives. It's a struggle sometimes for people to have time to think about those issues ... but it's really critical that they do, so I try to help in that effort. The Violence Against Women Act still hasn't been passed through Congress. The interest on student loans is going to increase as of July 1, and Congress is pushing it dangerously close to that deadline. So I'm still trying to talk about those issues. I'm also really concerned about why the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act hasn't been reauthorized yet. Right now, it's completely stalled in Congress, and for no good reason. And if it isn't reauthorized, it'll have implications for the service providers and the victims who desperately need those services. Q: What do you make of reports that Limbaugh's show took a ratings hit after the controversy over what he said about you? You know, I listen to his show about as much as I did before it happened, which is not at all. I don't worry about it too much. It seems to me that the American public made their voice heard pretty clearly. Q: Any plans around the 2012 election? I'm not committed to working on anybody's campaign at this point, but I think it's going to be a really important election that decides a lot of important questions and directions for our country, and I'm continuing to monitor it and think about ways in which I can have an impact.