Pro-Life father Mark Houck prayed today in front of the Planned Parenthood aboriton business where he was saving babies from abortion a few years ago that prompted Joe Biden to try to put him in prison.
Houck, who is a husband and father of seven children, was recently acquitted of unjust Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act charges in Philadelphia federal court. The charges were brought against him by the Biden Administration even though another court had already dismissed them.
Houck has a 20 year record of peaceful pro-life activism. He was facing up to 11 years in federal prison if convicted over an incident where a Planned Parenthood escort bullied and threatened him and his son.
The Christian Defense Coalition joined with the Pro-life Union of Greater Philadelphia and other national groups for the prayer vigil Houck attended.
“The pro-life community has sent a powerful message that they will not be bullied or intimidated into silence by the Department of Justice as they peacefully unite to pray for an end to the violence of abortion,” the group told LifeNews.
Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Washington, D.C. based Christian Defense Coalition, states: “It was deeply troubling to see these unjust federal charges brought against longtime, pro-life leader, Mark Houck. The arrest, charges, and federal trial were clearly an attempt by the Department of Justice to silence a peaceful, prayerful, and public pro-life witness in front of the Philadelphia Planned Parenthood abortion center and across the country.
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“As we gathered to pray on the public sidewalk with Mark, the pro-life community sent a powerful message that we will not be bullied or intimidated into silence or fear by the Department of Justice and federal law enforcement. We came together in unity to offer women with unexpected pregnancies hope and care, and to pray for an end to the violence of abortion,” he added.
Houck was facing charges that he violated the federal FACE law when he was helping women outside an abortion center. An abortion business escort accosted and bullied his son and Houck stepped in to stop it – and, in doing so, the abortion center volunteer fell down. Houck could have faced over a decade in prison if he was found guilty.
But a jury reached a not guilty verdict – in what is a huge victory for Houck’s family and pro-life Americans who protect or help women outside abortion businesses.
After the not guilty verdict, Houck’s attorney Peter Breen celebrated the decision in comments to LifeNews.
“Mark and his family are now free of the cloud that the Biden administration threw upon them. We took on Goliath – the full might of the United States government – and won,” he said.
Breen added: “The jury saw through and rejected the prosecution’s discriminatory case, which was harassment from day one. This is a win for Mark and the entire pro-life movement. The Biden Department of Justice’s intimidation against pro-life people and people of faith has been put in its place.”
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri also applauded the decision.
“Remember, this is the Catholic man Biden DOJ arrested in a SWAT-style raid at his home. In front of his children. On bogus charges. All to intimidate pro-life Americans & people of faith,” he tweeted.
Senator Tom Cotton chimed in as well.
“Mark Houck never should have been prosecuted, let alone treated like a terrorist in an early-morning FBI raid with a SWAT team. Merrick Garland should be ashamed for using DOJ as a political weapon to target pro-life activists,” he tweeted.
Pro-Life Congressman Chip Roy of Texas celebrated the decision – tweeting “Good. Begs question of the $48 billion we give to DOJ.”
Andrew Bath of the Thomas More Center, a pro-life legal group, described what ws at stake in the case.
“I don’t know how anyone could hear what we’ve heard over the past few days and think that Mark deserves to be in prison. I don’t know how anyone could watch this grueling trial and think that Bruce Love was a helpless victim and Mark a violent monster. And I don’t know how anyone could hear the moving and courageous testimony of young Mark Jr. and come away with their hearts hardened against his father. As Brian McMonagle told the jury, “This case is about a father’s love for his child.”
“I truly believe that we’ve sent a message to Biden’s DOJ and the abortion industry that, despite all their money and power, they can’t get away with abusing government power to destroy the lives of heroic sidewalk counselors without triggering a confrontation with the Thomas More Society,” he added.
Houck made national headlines last year after 20 heavily-armed federal agents stormed his home at dawn on September 23 — frightening his family, pointing guns at his head, and then arresting him in front of his wife and seven young children.
