Blue Mountain Clinic: Attack on abortion provider 'never acceptable'

A Missoula clinic denounced a recent assault on a local abortion provider by an Anaconda man who admitted to law enforcement he planned to kill the doctor and his wife.

Blue Mountain Clinic, an abortion provider first established in 1977, said in a statement on social media on Wednesday that the group is deeply troubled with the targeting of the doctor, calling the assault "never acceptable."

"Violence and extremism have no place in our communities," the statement said. "This heartbreaking example reminds us of how misinformation and divisive rhetoric can deepen divisions and put people at risk."

The statement was posted around two weeks after Missoula County prosecutors charged Charles Felix Jones, 20, for assaulting an abortion doctor at his Missoula home on March 8, and later admitting he planned to kill the man and his family.

On the day of the assault, Jones, who sits in Missoula County Detention Center with a $5 million bond, traveled from Anaconda to Missoula to take part in an anti-abortion protest outside of Blue Mountain Clinic, according to charging documents. He then went to the abortion provider's home, walked into the family's backyard with a firearm and threw the weapon into the family's back window before feeling the scene, prosecutors allege.

Jones also admitted to law enforcement that he shot up a Helena Planned Parenthood building in 2023, a case that previously did not have an identified suspect.

Jones told prosecutors he disagreed with the non-violent nature of the mainstream pro-life movement. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 19.

Blue Mountain said in its statement that no health care worker should be shamed or threatened for providing care. It offered support to other abortion providers like Planned Parenthood of Montana and All Families Health Care.

"Together, we remain united in ensuring that essential healthcare, including abortion, is accessible to all Montanans," the statement said.

Blue Mountain Clinic previously faced violence in 1994, when an anti-abortion activist bombed the clinic among several other abortion providers across Idaho and Washington.

The clinic reopened two and a half years later at its current location.

"We are here for you, our doors remain open, and we are not going anywhere," the statement said.

Abortion remained legal in Montana following the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, which previously protected the right across the U.S.

In fall 2024, Montanans voted to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state Constitution.