Conservative columnist Ann Coulter says that if newspapers are going to publish the names of people who have gun permits then they should also publish the names of women who had abortions because “mothers might want to know what other women on their street might be willing to murder a child.”

New York newspaper The Journal News earlier this week said that it would hire armed guards after receiving threats — including an envelope of “suspicious white powder” — that could have been retaliation for publishing the names of gun permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties. The newspaper has defended its decision by insisting that readers had a right to know who owned guns in their area in light of the recent mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

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Fox News host Sean Hannity, however, told Coulter that the situation was “really dangerous” because criminal who wanted to “rape, rob and steal” could find out which residents did not own guns.

“This is a wake up call to New York state,” Coulter agreed. “To make these a public record has got to be changed.”

“Why aren’t we getting the names of recently paroled criminals?” she wondered. “People with gun permits, by definition, do not have criminal records. Why can’t we get the criminal records?”

Coulter continued: “Why can’t we get a record of women who have had abortions? They get money from Planned Parenthood, they get money from Medicare, from Medicaid. Much of this is tax subsidies. I think mothers might want to know what other women on their street might be willing to murder a child.”

The conservative columnist went on to call for the names of people living in rent-controlled apartments and the names of “rich liberals” who had bodyguards with guns.

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“They will not release the names of people who have been convicted of crimes, they will not be doing anything about manifestly crazy people. No, no, no. We have to let Billy Bob walk the streets of Manhattan, defecate in the street. You have the ACLU defending crazy people. All of these shoot ups, these precious protections for obviously mentally disturbed individuals. There is certainly no effort to reduce single motherhood, something that is also a contributing factor in many of these cases.”

“Liberals won’t let us go after the criminals,” she added. “No, they specifically try to harm people who by definition do not have criminal records so that their guns can be stolen by criminals!”

Two Kansas abortion clinics in 2009 asked the state Supreme Court to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Attorney General Phill Kline after Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said that he had obtained the names of women who had abortions in the state.

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Advocates say that leaking patients records violates the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which requires that medical providers get permission before disclosing medical history.

Watch this video from Fox News’ Hannity, broadcast Jan. 3, 2013.

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(h/t: Mediaite)