The Atlantic recently caused outrage by hiring Kevin Williamson, an extreme conservative who advocated for capital punishment for anyone who’s had an abortion. After NARAL and UltraViolet launched a campaign to #FireKevin — joined by over 50,000 activists calling for Williamson’s removal — and Media Matters uncovered a podcast of Williamson doubling down on his outrageous world view that women should be hung for abortion, The Atlantic did indeed #FireKevin.
While we’re relieved that Jeffrey Goldberg heard the concerns and outrage of so many and removed Williamson from his post, The Atlantic never should have allowed him to occupy space in its pages in the first place. Here are the top 10 ways giving Williamson — and men like him — a platform to espouse hateful rhetoric is potentially detrimental for women’s rights:
- Williamson advocated for killing 25% of the female population. Williamson has gone as far to say “I believe that the law should treat abortion like any other homicide…I have hanging more in mind.” One in four women will have an abortion in their lifetime, yet Williamson believes we should kill 25% of the population for making a decision about their bodily autonomy.
- These extremist views perpetuate a myth that abortion is more controversial than it actually is. Normalizing Williamson’s extremist beliefs negates the fact that abortion is part of the essential reproductive healthcare that many women will access throughout their lifetimes. It makes abortion seem controversial and adds to its existing stigma — despite the fact that 7 in 10 Americans believe abortion should remain legal and accessible.
- Williamson’s views threaten a woman’s ability to get ahead. Reproductive healthcare — including birth control and abortion — allows women to make decisions about our own lives, bodies, and futures. It allows us to achieve our education and career goals, and to better care for the families we have. Abortion access crucial for allowing women to get ahead and be equal partners in society — something Williamson is either threatened by or has disdain for.
- It helps normalize fringe views. Killing women for having an abortion is an ultra extreme, fringe view — even for many anti-choice activists and organizations. Yet, it’s picking up steam all over the country as a real policy proposal. This past week, Bob Nonini, a Republican Party leader in Idaho, suggested that women should receive the death penalty for abortion. And 20 Ohio lawmakers sponsored a bill that punishes women with life in prison or even the death penalty for having an abortion. Even the White House has espoused a similar line of thinking, after Donald Trump himself stated that women should be punished for having an abortion.
- Women’s lives and rights are not up for debate. Hiring bigots who espouse dangerous, racist, misogynist rhetoric for the sake of interesting ideas, controversy, or debate gives the impression that women’s health, rights, and lives are up for debate. We are not bargaining chips, and as NARAL members proved by calling for Williamson’s firing, we will not be silenced.
- Far-right, anti-choice views become normalized, pushing the conversation further into the extreme. Validating such extreme ideology is part of the anti-choice movement’s strategy to make their most extreme, outrageous, and dangerous ideas seem more moderate. By attempting to have such extreme points become a “normal” part of any political discourse, the anti-choice movement hopes the ultimate compromise will end up being that abortion becomes illegal. When extremists talk about murdering women or providers, the majority of people know it’s too far, but it makes the anti-choice movement’s goals such as dangerous, unconstitutional abortion bans seem all that much more reasonable.
- Giving Williamson such a high profile platform also condones violent rhetoric, and helps normalize it into the mainstream. We know that during the 2016 elections, harassment and hate speech against women became mainstream at campaign rallies and from public officials, as seen in the “Lock her up” chants that threatened to jail Clinton because she was Trump’s political opponent. When you give these arguments a platform in the mainstream, you’re normalizing this ideology and behavior.
- There’s a direct connection between violent rhetoric and upticks in violence. Violent rhetoric, as seen on the campaign trail from Trump supporters and by men such as Kevin Williamson, leads to really concerning outcomes such as increased clinic violence. According to the most recent report, there have been 11 murders of abortion providers since 1993, and 26 attempted murders since 1991. Since 1977 there have been at least 42 bombings, 185 arsons, and thousands of attacks and threats made against abortion providers and clinics. The sharp rise in threats and violence is alarming, and directly correlates to the release of the inflammatory videos aimed at demonizing providers. After videos manufactured to vilify Planned Parenthood, and, by proxy, all abortion providers, anti-choice extremists were prompted to launch a multi-pronged assault against women’s reproductive rights. In the year before the videos were released, there was only one reported threat of direct harm against providers. The year following the release of the deliberately deceptive videos, this number skyrocketed to 94 threats. At one point, a man stormed a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs, going on a shooting spree that killed 3 people and wounded many others. That should be concerning, for everyone.
- Giving men’s rights activism a platform. Kevin Williamson hire is also defended by men’s rights activists, people who believe feminism has lead to the oppression and discrimination of men. Seriously. His past writing repeatedly attacks women and our fundamental rights, along with a whole host of other racist, misogynist, extremist views.
- Diversity in newsrooms is actually threatened. There is already a huge disparity between the amount of women and people of color in newsrooms, compared to white men. When The Atlantic gives jobs to men with worldviews like Kevin Williamson, not only are they exacerbating this disparity, they are actively making newsrooms unsafe for women and people of color. How can women journalists feel safe if they think their colleagues believes they should be punished by death for exercising their right to healthcare?
While we can be relieved that Williamson will no longer have a national platform at The Atlantic to espouse his hateful views, this is just the beginning. Williamson is just one man, and part of a whole extreme, anti-choice movement obsessed with controlling women’s bodies and rolling back our rights. But as long as there are extremist attacking our rights, NARAL members will speak out and fight back.
