Extremist Theodore Shulman, who was arrested in February 2011 after threatening anti-choice activists, has been sentenced to 41 months in a federal prison, according to numerous reports. He was accused of leaving death threats in online forums in 2010 against Priests for Life Director Frank Pavone and Princeton University’s Robert George. Shulman declared that someone would kill them if murderer Scott Roeder was acquitted of killing George Tiller, the Kansas physician and abortion provider.

Shulman, a self-proclaimed “pro-choice terrorist,” had an extensive history of harassment and threats against major figures in the anti-choice movement, including Operation Rescue leader Troy Newman and anti-choice blogger Jill Stanek. According to Mother Jones:

Many prominent opponents of abortion rights claim to have been harassed or threatened by Shulman over the years. Gerard Nadal, a blogger and university professor who does “science in the service of the pro-life movement,” has written on his blog that he and “many others” have been subjected to “repeated threats” from Shulman, including: anti-abortion speaker and organizer Bryan Kemper; anti-abortion blogger and World Net Daily columnist Jill Stanek; Operation Rescue leader Troy Newman; Father Frank Pavone, the head of Priests for Life; Planned Parenthood “sting” videographer Lila Rose; Colorado anti-abortion activist Ken Scott; Cheryl Sullenger; and Princeton professor Robert George.

Sullenger…claims a long history of harassment from Shulman. “He often posted threatening comments to our web site and called me on my cell phone too many times to count,” she said in the blog post. “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.”

U.S. District Attorney Preet Bharara said in a press release that the sentence demonstrates that violence and intimidation have no place in the discourse when it comes to reproductive rights:

“The vibrant exchange of ideas that is a hallmark of our society does not include threats. As Theodore Shulman’s sentence makes clear, advocating one’s point of view through threats of violence is illegal conduct that will be punished.”

Online or offline, harassment and threats cannot be tolerated.