Sandra Kay Fluke (, born April 17, 1981) is an American lawyer, women's rights activist, and representative to the Democratic Party of San Fernando Valley.
She first came to public attention when, in February 2012, Republican members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee refused to allow her to testify to that committee on the importance of requiring insurance plans to cover birth control during a discussion on whether medical insurance should have a contraception mandate. She later spoke to Democratic representatives.
Fluke supported President Barack Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 and was a featured speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. She ran for the California State Senate seat of Ted Lieu, who vacated the seat to run for the congressional seat being vacated by Henry Waxman. Fluke lost to fellow Democrat Ben Allen.
Early life
Sandra Fluke is a native of Saxton, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Richard B. Fluke II, a licensed pastor at a Methodist church, and Betty Kay (née Donaldson). She graduated from Pennsylvania's Tussey Mountain Junior/Senior High School in 1999.
Education
In 2003, Fluke graduated from Cornell University's New York State College of Human Ecology with double major in Policy Analysis and Management and Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies.
Career
Fluke co-founded the New York Statewide Coalition for Fair Access to Family Court, whose advocacy led to legislation granting access to civil orders of protection for victims of intimate partner violence, including teenage and LGBTQ victims. According to the website of Georgetown University, Fluke also participated in the Manhattan Borough President's Taskforce on Domestic Violence and "many other New York City and New York State coalitions that successfully fought for policy improvements effecting victims of domestic violence". While in New York City, she worked for Sanctuary for Families, which aids victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.
According to The Washington Post, Fluke was interested in contraceptive coverage when starting out at Georgetown University Law Center, researching the college's student health plans before enrolling to find that birth control was not included. "I decided I was absolutely not willing to compromise the quality of my education in exchange for my health care," she said. Fluke spent the following three years trying to persuade the administration of the Jesuit college to change its policy regarding student contraceptive coverage. She said she had intended to use her testimony before Congress to talk about the effects of the lack of birth control coverage on students at Georgetown.
In 2011, Fluke was a recipient of the Women Lawyers of Los Angeles' Fran Kandel Public Interest Grant from Georgetown University Law Center, which supported her production of a video on how to take out a restraining order. She also "represented numerous victims of domestic violence and human trafficking," according to Georgetown University. She also served as president of the Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice student organization. Marianne Schnall writes in What Will It Take to Make A Woman President? that Fluke "has been recognised for her extensive pro bono representation of victims of domestic violence and human trafficking and for her human-rights advocacy efforts in Kenya."
Fluke received her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Georgetown Law in 2012. She passed the California bar exam in July 2012 and was admitted to practice in the state on December 11, 2012.
2012 Congressional testimony
While a law student at Georgetown, Fluke was invited by Democrats to speak at a February 2012 hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on new Administration rules concerning the Conscience Clause exceptions in healthcare associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Democrats requested that the committee add Sandra Fluke to the first panel, which was otherwise an all-male panel of clergy and theologians. Committee chairman Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman from California, refused to allow Fluke to testify at the hearing, stating that Fluke lacked expertise, was not a member of the clergy, and her name was not submitted in time for the hearing. Democratic members criticized the decision not to include Fluke because of the lack of female witnesses at the hearing, which was to examine contraception coverage.