Jury Acquits Pro-Life Activist Accused of Violating FACE Act Outside Planned Parenthood Clinic
A jury has acquitted pro-life activist Mark Houck who was threatened with 11 years in prison for allegedly violating the FACE Act, according to a politically motivated Department of Justice inditement.
On October 12, 2021 Mark Houck and his 12-year old son were standing on the corner of a street near a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia when they were approached by Bruce Love, a volunteer for the clinic who would escort women to their abortion appointments. Houck had been near the clinic, praying for the workers and patients, as well as the children who would be lost to abortion that day, as he had done a number of times before.
Love approached Houck and his son and began verbally harassing them, using “insults and vulgarities” according to Houck. The 12-year old boy was visibly scared, Houck said in an interview with Sean Hannity. The boy can be seen in surveillance footage hiding behind his father as Love continued to provoke Houck.
After numerous failed attempts to deescalate the situation, Houck shoved Love away from him and to the ground, in defense of his young son.
“[Love] attempted to sue Houck, but the case was discarded by the District Court in Philadelphia. That resolution didn’t stop the FBI from mobilizing at Houck’s front door, about a year after the incident.”
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On September 23, 2022, nearly a year after the initial incident, federal agents stormed Houck’s family home at the break of dawn. Approximately 20 agents were in full SWAT gear, and took a battering ram to the front door.
Though the case was thrown out by a District Court in Philadelphia almost a year prior, federal agents arrested Houck in his home, in front of his wife and traumatized children, alleging that he was in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
The DOJ wrote in the inditement, Houck “shoved B.L. to the ground as B.L. attempted to escort two PPC patients.” However, once security footage of the incident was shown in court, it was clear that the DOJ fabricated this claim, as Love was not attempting to escort anyone at the time, and was instead acting as the provocateur in the situation.
Additionally, the inditement indicated that Houck “attempted to injure, intimidate, and interfere with B.L., because B.L. was and had been providing reproductive health services . . .” In this failed attempt to assign motive to Houck’s actions, the DOJ had to prove that Houck shoved Love because of his association with the clinic, NOT because of Love’s harassment of Houck and his son.
This flagrant attempt to attack political opponents is why many believe that federal institutions are not bipartisan as they may have once been, but are now weaponized to the point in which they would lock a father up in prison for 11 years for merely defending his child.
It took the jury a little under an hour to acquit Houck, who was overjoyed when reunited with his family.
The FACE Act created a perimeter around clinics, protecting patients, employees, and volunteers from unwanted solicitors. Though this Act supposedly provides legal protection to crisis pregnancy centers, which give women with fewer financial or emotional resources free or very inexpensive access to pregnancy-related health care, including prenatal vitamins, ultrasounds, checkups, counseling, adoption information, diapers, baby food, and more. However, one distinction that seems to matter to federal authorities is that these clinics do not facilitate abortion procedures.
“[The] Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act also protects pro-life clinics that provide crisis pregnancy care to women in need — however the DOJ has not found a single person to arrest following the attacks on centers around the country.”
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