WASHINGTON — President Obama, speaking publicly for the first time about Rush Limbaugh’s slur of a law student on his radio show last week, said on Tuesday that he had called the woman, Sandra Fluke, in part to set an example for his daughters.

“I thought about Malia and Sasha, and one of the things I want them to do as they get older is to engage in issues they care about, even ones I may not agree with them on,” Mr. Obama said at a televised news conference at the White House. “I want them to be able to speak their mind in a civil and thoughtful way, and I don’t want them attacked or called horrible names because they’re being good citizens.”

Mr. Obama confirmed what had been known about the call only from Ms. Fluke’s account, which she has repeated since the Friday conversation to multiple reporters and television shows. He declined a reporter’s invitation to pass judgment on the sincerity of Mr. Limbaugh’s subsequent apology or on his loss of advertisers in the controversy.

Mr. Obama would neither criticize nor endorse the comments of other Democrats, including the party chairman, that Republicans are waging “a war on women” by stances like their opposition to the Obama administration proposal that insurers and employers provide health coverage for contraception — the policy that Mr. Limbaugh was criticizing when he attacked Ms. Fluke, who testified for the measure in Congress, as “a slut” and “a prostitute.”