Kevin Williamson is wrong. Hanging women who have an abortion is not pro-life

Is it out of bounds to argue that women should be hanged for having an abortion?

An actual debate is raging over this question following yesterday’s firing of conservative writer Kevin Williamson from The Atlantic for expressing this view on multiple occasions. Williamson apparently believes this is “pro-life.”

Conservatives fanned out to attack The Atlantic and “the Left” for their closed- mindedness in not embracing a view that calls for the humiliating, torturous killing by the state of women who have had an abortion.

Commentary’s Noah Rothman called Williamson’s firing “chilling” and The Resurgent’s Eric Erickson said that it was all “about the left wanting a monopoly on the public square so none can be exposed to competing ideas.” The American Conservative’s Rod Dreher tweeted, “The Atlantic’s cutting [Williamson] loose under left-wing fire is deplorable. But clarifying. Definitely clarifying.”