Federal report condemning Biden DOJ cites prosecution of Bucks County pro-life activist
In January 2023, a jury acquitted Bucks County resident Mark Houck, a pro-life activist who faced federal criminal charges.
Now, a Department of Justice report has further exonerated the Kintersville father of eight and excoriated the Biden administration’s DOJ for weaponized prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Thomas More Society, a public interest law firm that represented Houck, along with Philadelphia attorney Brian McMonagle, welcomed the lengthy report.
“The explosive report, based on a review of more than 700,000 internal records, vindicates what Thomas More Society argued in courtrooms and in the media for years: that federal prosecutors selectively pursued pro-life advocates while giving the abortion lobby an open line to drive enforcement decisions,” the firm said in a press release.
“We are grateful to President Trump and the Justice Department for having the courage to expose what happened and to right these wrongs,” said Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at Thomas More Society, who represented Houck at trial. “Thomas More Society has stood with these pro-life heroes when the full weight of the federal government was brought to bear against them — defending them in the courtroom and advocating for their pardons.”
“We are hopeful that today’s findings will help restore the American people’s faith in a justice system that was badly abused,” added Breen. “Weaponizing federal law enforcement against people of faith must never happen again.”
Houck settled his case against the government for more than $1 million.
Numerous FBI agents with long guns came to Houck’s home early on a Sunday morning and arrested him in front of his family on charges stemming from the brief altercation with an abortion clinic escort.
Houck was charged with violating the FACE Act for incidents on October 13, 2021, when he pushed a volunteer escort at a Planned Parenthood clinic on Locust Street in Philadelphia.
The escort, who had been confronting Houck’s then twelve-year-old son, Mark Jr., was not seriously injured, according to testimony. Indeed, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner declined to prosecute Houck, but after Roe v. Wade was overturned about a year later, the U.S. Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden brought charges using the FACE Act.
If convicted at trial, Houck might have faced eleven years in prison.
Houck, a Catholic who runs a pro-life ministry called The King’s Men, ran unsuccessfully for Congress against Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-01) after he was acquitted.
Houck declined an interview request from The Independence on Wednesday.
“I did one [interview], and it triggered my wife’s PTSD,” Houck said. “All I can tell you is I’m grateful it’s over.”
Attorney and political commentator Christine Flowers found the federal report a vindication of concerns pro-lifers had about the Biden administration on the subject of fairness about abortion activism.
“What most of us in the pro-life movement suspected is true: the Biden administration, which rallied against conservatives for breaching the wall between church and state, employed the FACE Act to target and punish conservative Christians and Catholics who were exercising their right to free speech and assembly,” Flowers said. “The ‘get your rosary off my ovary’ lobby found a way to turn neutral legislation into a firehose to attack those who had the courage to oppose abortion in a country that refused to acknowledge the dignity of the unborn child. The hypocrisy of that administration is blatant, galling, and now laid bare.”
Linda Stein is an award-winning journalist who’s written for newspapers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Arizona. Before joining Fideri News Network, she was the news editor for Delaware Valley Journal. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Temple University and earned her undergraduate degree from Arcadia University. Contact her at [email protected].
