EXCLUSIVE: Sandra Fluke Says Supreme Court Obamacare Outcome ‘Critical’ for Women

Georgetown law student and women issues advocate Sandra Fluke said she hopes that President Barack Obama's signature health care law is upheld in the Supreme Court because it is critical for women.

I know how many women were outside the Supreme Court in their pink t-shirts showing how much the law means to them and from a policy level how much it means to them, Fluke said, after speaking at a 92nd Street Y panel in Manhattan about women in politics Wednesday night.

Fluke -- who became a household name after syndicated radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh called her a slut for advocating that the government require all institutions to provide health care with free birth control -- was referring to the Supreme Court case challenging Obama's Affordable Care Act and the individual mandate that comes along with it.

The White House is so confident that it health care overhaul will be upheld by the Supreme Court, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday that the administration hasn't even prepared a back-up plan in case it gets tossed out.

However, shaky oral arguments made by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, Jr. and tough questions by swing Justice Anthony Kennedy led the press and politicos to question if Obamacare was threatened.

Supporters of the law defend that the beginning arguments in the case are just the tip of the iceberg of a massive issue and are not necessarily indicative of the outcome of the case.

Fluke: It's Critical That The Law Be Upheld

I really hope the justices understand how critical it is the law be upheld, Fluke said. My constitutional law professor assured me that it'll be fine, so I hope they're right.

Fluke proved that she is a rising political star at Running in Heels, a panel about women in politics moderated by Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She earned thunderous applause throughout the night and floating the idea of running for public office one day, but lamented about the negative press she received when she's mentioned that in the past.

That was a terrible thing to say, apparently, Fluke said, later joking that feminism was other 'F' word.

Fluke made a name of herself specifically on the issue of religious institutions covering contraception without co-pays, while Affordable Care Act refers only to private insurance. But the 30-year-old law student said ACA is still very much related to the debate she helped bring to the national conversation.

In addition to supportive pink t-shirts, the Supreme Court arguments attracted at least one woman with a sign that read, Sandra Fluke, I don't want to pay for your birth control, reported The Washington Post.

Fluke called the signs unfortunate and misinformed.

They seemed to imply that this is a government plan to pay for contraception through taxes and that's been intentionally publicized and is completely incorrect, Fluke said. The government does and absolutely should pay for contraception programs like Medicaid for the poorest women, but this particular policy is about private insurance, women that pay for, through their own premiums, through their employer or their school.

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