Man with crisis pregnancy center ties charged in connection with destruction of a Montana abortion clinic

Zachary Klundt had a concealed, loaded weapon and close to $1,000 in cash at the time of his arrest

Published March 7, 2014 2:39PM (EST)

                                           (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A Montana man is facing four felony charges after allegedly breaking into an abortion clinic and destroying everything he could get his hands on, including medical equipment.

As NBC News reports, Zachary Klundt has been charged with burglary, criminal mischief, theft and attempted burglary. According to court documents, Klundt had a concealed, loaded weapon and close to $1,000 in cash at the time of his arrest. As Teddy Wilson at RH Reality Check notes, Klundt has ties to the antiabortion movement as the son of a board member of an antiabortion crisis pregnancy center.

The clinic, All Families Health Care, is closed indefinitely as a result of the damage. Until it reopens, there are only three remaining clinics in the state.

Susan Cahill, a physician's assistant and office manager at All Families, told RH Reality Check that it was an "incredible shock" to find the clinic destroyed, and she has "no doubt in her mind" that the crime occurred because the clinic provides abortion services.

Cahill is shaken by the destruction of the clinic, but committed to ensuring reproductive health services, including abortion care, remain available in the state. “If women don’t band together and understand that this violence against me is also violence against them, then we’re just going to end up back [as things were] before [abortion] was legal,” she said.


By Katie McDonough

Katie McDonough is Salon's politics writer, focusing on gender, sexuality and reproductive justice. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Abortion Anti-choice Activists Crime Montana Reproductive Health Reproductive Rights Vandalism Violence