Pro-life Activist Who Was Treated Like a Terrorist Finally Acquitted

Written by Brian Wencel

I am sure many of you know the story of Mark Houck, a pro-life activist and father of seven who was accused of harassing and shoving 73-year-old abortion clinic escort, Bruce Love, in an incident last year. Mark and his 12-year-old-son were doing sidewalk counseling at an abortion clinic in Pennsylvania. Mr. Love started verbally harassing the 12-year-old and that’s when the pushing ensued. Local authorities decided not to press charges against Mr. Houck, as he was defending his son, but the FBI decided to go after Mr. Houck under the FACE Act. The FACE Act is a federal law that prohibits violent or threatening actions intended to interfere with someone seeking abortions.

The FBI didn’t just arrest him but raided his house as if he were a war criminal. It would be outrageous enough to put Mark Houck and his wife through that level of turmoil and stress, but their seven children were also present during the incident which makes their actions even more despicable, if that’s even possible.

Fortunately, Mark Houck’s story has a happy ending. Although the jury was split at first, they eventually acquitted Houck. The judge even commented that the FACE Act “seemed to be stretched a little thin here.” It is a huge victory for Christians, conservatives, and the pro-life movement in general. Peter Breen, a constitutional attorney representing Houck, said, “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.” It’s obvious that the government and its institutions target Christians and those with conservative values, but with our system of government as it is, it’s hard to actually put them in prison. Unfortunately, that’s the only difficult thing for them to do. Although Mark Houck was able to rightfully avoid prison, he still had his family traumatized by an FBI raid where guns were allegedly pointed at his family for absolutely no reason. He was successfully smeared online and had his name ruined among millions of people who read the deceptive news articles.

The abuse of power here is shocking. It used to be a “crazy conspiracy” to even suggest that the media was influenced by the government, but with the recent Twitter Files coming to light, showing how our government repeatedly censored speech on Twitter, it doesn’t seem so outrageous anymore. Houck was acquitted in a court of law, but the same cannot be said when it comes to the court of public opinion. He was libeled and slandered by countless news organizations, but will there be any consequences for their actions? Probably not. The FBI unjustifiably raided his house, but there probably won’t be any consequences for that, especially since the FBI denies many of the things Houck and his family claim to have happened. Houck won’t be punished for something he didn’t do, which is great, but the people who blatantly smeared his name or the federal agency which terrorized an American family won’t pay any consequences either.

There are some cases where the media is held accountable for their blatant defamation. Nick Sandmann, a high schooler from Indiana who was slandered by countless media outlets by claiming he harassed a Native American man, sued and won his lawsuits. However, while there are cases like Sandmann’s, it’s the unfortunate truth that many people who slander conservatives never have to suffer any consequences for their actions. The fact that the FBI can raid someone as innocent as Houck truly shows the hatred and disgust that the government has for Christian conservatives, and how they can get away with taking it out on innocent people.

Many people claim that this situation with Mark Houck exemplifies how the government’s intimidation tactics won’t work, or how the government has been put in its place. I disagree.  While people like Houck may be strong enough to withstand the endless barrage from the media, government, and outrage mob, many other people see this story and will be scared into silence. Who  knows how many countless Americans saw this article and began to rethink things they posted on social media, or protests that they’ve attended, or even rethinking protesting outside abortion clinics like Houck was doing himself. Let’s pray there are many strong Americans out there who won’t be scared into silence by the intimidation tactics the government uses so we can have hope for our nation’s future.