FBI Charges Abortion Advocate With Threatening Pro-Lifers

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 5, 2011   |   4:04PM   |   Washington, DC

Federal officials have indicted abortion advocate Theodore Shulman on charges of terrorist threats against pro-life leaders. The FBI has charged the 49-year-old self-proclaimed “pro-choice terrorist” with six counts of communicating interstate threats against pro-life advocates.

Shulman was initially arrested in February and held without bond at Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, which is a federal holding facility.

Officials with the pro-life group Operation Rescue and the Life Legal Defense Fund have been on the receiving end of Shulman’s threats. In addition to the two victims listed in the federal complaint against Shulman when he was arrested months ago, Operation Rescue’s two full-time staffers Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger as well as pro-life blogger Jill Stanek have been targets of the pro-abortion activist’s threats.  Bryan Kemper, the founder of Stand true, the pro-life group that sponsors the red tape day for students to stand up in silent solidarity for unborn children at their schools, also received death threats from Shulman.

Meanwhile, in 2009, Shulman left a threatening voice mail message with LLDF Legal Director, Catherine Short.

Short told LifeNews.com the charges against Shulman are national news and she is upset the Associated Press today released a story on supposed pro-life advocates who have threatened abortion centers but did not report on Shulman and how he threatened several pro-life advocates. Just this week the Associate Press reported that they have obtained government records that show, in slightly over two years, the Obama Justice Department has filed six lawsuits under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), mostly to seek injunctions and fines.

Cody, stated, “The fact that the AP either didn’t or couldn’t find records of similar prosecutions against abortion advocates shows the unequal nature of FACE.”

“LLDF’s work doesn’t come without risks. My life was threatened when LLDF challenged implementation of Proposition 71, the California initiative that created California’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine; unrelated to FACE but a death threat, nonetheless. It’s time to start reporting and prosecuting equally — justice demands it,” she added.

Shulman hounded Operation Rescue’s Sullenger, in particular, over a two year time-span as he ran a pro-abortion blog site called Operation Counterstrike that Sullenger said “fomented hatred and attempted to encourage ‘pro-choice’ supporters to murder pro-lifer activists.”

Shulman is also the object of a federal investigation in Wichita, Kansas, where Operation Rescue is located, which could result in additional charges filed against him for making serious death threats against Operation Rescue staff members.

“This is a huge relief to us that Ted Shulman is behind bars where he belongs,” said Sullenger in a statement to LifeNews.

“He often posted threatening comments to our web site and called me on my cell phone too many times to count,” she said. “He was always brazen in his threats and openly identified himself, telling us not to bother calling the FBI because they would never do anything for us. Thankfully, he was wrong about that, and we hope that, in addition to his New York charges, he will also be charged in Kansas.”

“We continue to work with the FBI on the Shulman case and on other cases of death threats we have received. We take every threat seriously and have taken extra security precautions to insure our safety,” she said.