The owner of All Families Healthcare in Kalispell says she has not decided if she’ll reopen the clinic, Northwest Montana’s only abortion provider, after someone broke in and destroyed everything inside on March 4. As a result, Susan Cahill, a physician assistant, says she does not feel safe in the community she has lived in for more than three decades.
Zachary Klundt, 24, of Columbia Falls, was arrested March 4 after he allegedly attempted to break in to Bob’s Bail Bonds on South Main Street in Kalispell. Klundt was found with multiple weapons, including a concealed loaded handgun. Police also found evidence-connecting Klundt to the break-in earlier that day at All Families Healthcare. On March 6, Klundt was charged with four felonies, including burglary, criminal mischief, theft and attempted burglary.
Klundt allegedly broke into All Families Healthcare through a back door and threw books and equipment on the floor. Police also found a yellow powder covering “almost everything.” Klundt also allegedly stole $950.
Cahill believes Klundt’s motives were political because his parents, Kenny and Twyla Klundt, are board members at Hope Pregnancy Ministries, a Christian clinic that bills its services as an alternative to abortion.
“Someone who was taught hatred did this to me,” Cahill said. “I could have been killed, my receptionist could have been killed, because (Klundt) was armed… I don’t trust this community like I used to.”
Michelle Reimer, executive director of Hope Pregnancy Ministries, issued a statement following Klundt’s arrest saying the group was “shocked and saddened” by news of the break-in, but also saying they still supported Kenny and Twyla Klundt.
“Inherent in Hope Pregnancy Ministries’ prolife position is the opposition to all lawlessness and violence against people or property, even when their beliefs are contrary to ours. Such actions are completely abhorrent and a totally unacceptable manner by which to express opposition to abortion, and are wholeheartedly condemned by the staff, volunteers and leadership of Hope Pregnancy Ministries,” Reimer said.
Kalispell’s 40 Days for Life chapter, a Christian campaign against abortion that was a planning a protest at All Families Healthcare, issued a similar statement condemning the break-in and delaying the planned protest.
But the statements brought little comfort to Cahill, especially after police finally let her return to the building.
“These people are dangerous,” Cahill said. “He destroyed everything. He even destroyed photos of me and my family by stabbing the photos in the face, even one of my baby grandson.”
Cahill’s clinic has been the target of violence before. On Oct. 11, 1994, Cahill’s clinic, at a different location in Kalispell, was firebombed. The front of the building was destroyed, forcing the clinic to close for five months. Richard T. Andrews of Washington was convicted of torching seven abortion clinics in four western states, including Montana, where he set fire to clinics in Kalispell, Missoula and Helena.
Cahill had moved her clinic, which also offered family care and other services, to a new location in Kalispell just weeks before the March 4 break-in. Now it’s unclear if she will reopen the facility. Cahill said she and a receptionist have since set up shop at a friend’s house and have been working the phones, referring patients to other doctors and filling prescriptions. She said that while the clinic has been targeted before, this may have been the final straw and that she’ll decide if she reopens later this year.
“The air is out of my sails and I don’t know what to do,” she said. “It’s devastating to see my hard work destroyed like that.”