Catholic Pro-life Activist's Trial Begins

25.01.2023

Mark Houck’s Trial Begins

Mark Houck is the Catholic pro-life activist and father of seven whose home a squad of heavily armed FBI agents raided last year at dawn in front of his terrified family. The feds arrested him on a charge of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances [FACE] Act. His jury trial was set to begin on, January 25th, in federal district court in Philadelphia.

Biden’s Justice Department has charged Mr Houck under the FACE Act, even though that law does not cover what they are charging him with—a personal interaction that did not in any way involve interfering with anyone’s access to an abortion facility. Also, a lower court had already declined to prosecute Mr Houck on a charge of pushing away a pro-abortion man who was crowding Mr Houck’s young son and, says Mr Houck, was saying bad things to the boy.

Pro-life Activist, Mark Houck

As we said last issue, Mr Houck’s attorney, Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society, says, “This case is being brought solely to intimidate people of faith and pro-life Americans. Mark Houck is innocent of these lawless charges, and we intend to prove that in court.” 

Pro-lifers are asking their fellow pro-lifers everywhere to keep Mr Houck and all persecuted pro-life activists in prayer for their defence and vindication.

Photos:Joe Bukuras/Twitter/@cnalive

Persecuting Pro-lifers

Mr Houck is only one of 26 non-violent pro-lifers whom Biden’s Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland has arrested and charged on similar bogus charges. Like Mr Houck, they face up to 11 years in federal prison and fines of up to $350,000 each if convicted. The Biden administration has allocated $25 million to investigate and file false, unwarranted charges against peaceful pro-life activists in addition to those already charged. 

Behind much of this is Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, an abortion zealot who has admitted she is acting essentially because she fears the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision will curtail too many women’s and abortionists’ ability to kill babies. (Not that she put it quite that way.) She heads Garland’s new government-wide Reproductive [sic] Rights [sic] Task Force, the stated purpose of which is to “protect access to reproductive [sic] health [sic] care [sic]”. 

Ignoring Pro-Aborts’ Attacks 

While persecuting peaceful pro-lifers, Biden is refusing to go after actual violence— namely, the 230-plus attacks on churches (overwhelmingly Catholic) and pro-life pregnancy help centres committed since last May. He has made no arrests. Pro-lifers say that by turning a blind eye and deaf ear to those crimes, Biden, Garland and Miss Gupta are failing in their sworn constitutional duty to give all citizens equal protection under the law.