President Obama called Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke on Friday to offer her words of encouragement amid a controversy involving Rush Limbaugh's words toward her.

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Obama called Fluke shortly before her appearance on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," Fluke said in a subsequent appearance on the program.

"He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women," Fluke said in her description of the call.  "What was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud."

Fluke has become an unwitting figure in the middle of a political battle over access to contraception that has ensnared Washington in recent weeks. She favors increased access to contraception, and testified to that effect before a congressional panel assembled by Democrats.

In reaction to Fluke's testimony, Limbaugh said on his radio show that Fluke was a "slut," because, by asking for access to birth control subsidized by an insurer, she was essentially asking to be paid for sex.

Democrats have vocally criticized Limbaugh for the remark, and a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner labeled the conservative radio giant's comments as "inappropriate."

There's a political element to the battle over contraception and Fluke's testimony. Democrats believe that they can highlight critics like Limbaugh and other Republicans to portray the GOP as out of touch, especially to women voters. Republicans, on the other hand, believe there is political traction in framing the battle in Washington as a fight against government encroachment on religion. (The origin of the battle stems from an Obama administration regulation that would have required employers, even if they have moral objections to it, to provide access to contraception as part of their health insurance policy for employees.)

Neither Mitt Romney nor Rick Santorum have addressed Limbaugh's comments on Fluke since the host first made them on Wednesday.

House Speaker John Boehner distanced himself on Friday from Rush Limbaugh, calling the conservative radio host's words toward a women's rights advocate "inappropriate."

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, talks about a lunch meeting with President Obama to deal with rising gasoline prices, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 29, 2012.

Amid a growing media firestorm over comments Wednesday by Limbaugh toward Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown Law student who testified before a Democratic panel on the use of contraception, Washington's top Republicans said through a spokesman that Limbaugh was wrong.

"The speaker obviously believes the use of those words was inappropriate, as is trying to raise money off the situation," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement.

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The comment refers to Democratic fundraising efforts related to Limbaugh's comments, in which he called Fluke a "slut." Fluke had been asked to testify about the policy of Georgetown University, a Catholic college, toward covering contraception for students. Her testimony came amid a controversy in Washington in recent weeks regarding the extent to which religious institutions should be required to cover contraceptive services as part of their insurance policies, despite moral objectives to contraception.

"What does it say about the college co-ed [Sandra] Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex," Limbaugh said on his show. "What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute."

His comments quickly became political fodder for House Democrats, whose leader, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, decried Limbaugh's comments as "outside the circle of civilized discussion and that unmask the strong disrespect for women held by some in this country." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee additionally sought donations as a result of the outrage.

"I think my reaction was the reaction that a lot of women have had when, historically, they've been called these types of names and that really I think ... and that was initially, to be stunned by it, but then to quickly feel outraged and very upset by it," Fluke said about Limbaugh's remarks Friday on the TODAY show.