(LifeSiteNews) — We all remember when Mark Houck and his family were subjected to an early morning FBI raid last year on charges of supposedly violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entries (FACE) Act. We also all remember when he was acquitted of the charges this past January.
Well, guess what? Mark Houck is running for Congress! He joins me on today’s episode of The John-Henry Westen Show to discuss his congressional platform and what he hopes to achieve in Washington.
Recounting the events that led to his decision to run in Pennsylvania’s first congressional district, Houck explains that people encouraged him to run before his trial this past January. While he initially dismissed the idea, more “people of influence, people that I highly respected,” began to tell him he should run. Considering the suggestions, Houck and his wife began praying over the idea, deciding that he should run in the ring after receiving signal graces that God wanted him to at least try.
Describing one such grace, Houck recalled that he and another pro-life speaker were talking, and the speaker “out of the blue” began talking about his brother who was a former congressman, as well as Brian Fitzpatrick, the man Houck was considering running against.
When Houck asked why he brought up the matter in a conversation that wasn’t even about politics, the speaker said that he just felt like he should, all the while not knowing that Houck was considering running. “It was just so random, and unmistakably random, that I thought, ‘OK, Lord, that could be one of the signal graces here,’” Houck tells me, adding that his wife had received similar graces.
UPDATE (01/30/23): Mark Houck has been AQUITTED on both charges!
Thanks be to God LifeSiteNews can report that Mark Houck has been found “Not Guilty” on all counts today.
In a statement to LifeSiteNews, Pro-Life Coalition of Pennsylvania spokeswoman and Houck family friend Ashley Garecht said “We rejoice and celebrate that Mark Houck has been found not guilty on all counts.”
“This case was always about a father’s right to protect his son, and never had anything to do with the FACE act,” she said. “We are grateful to the judge for his integrity, and to the jurors for their thoughtful deliberations. We are grateful to Mark’s attorneys who labored so diligently in his defense. And we are grateful for all of those who surrounded and supported Mark and his family in prayer through this challenging ordeal.”
“Most of all we praise and thank God for his protection and provision,” Garecht added. “To Him be all the glory.”
The Thomas More Society is set to hold a press conference today on the 6th street side of the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse, 601 Market Street, Philadelphia.
Monday’s verdict came after a tense weekend wait following a deadlocked jury on Friday.
Several hours into Monday’s deliberations after the jury reconvened, an alternate was chosen to replace one of the jurors. Just before 3:00 p.m. EST, the jury delivered its verdict, acquitting Houck on both charges.
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Mark Houck, a pro-life Catholic father of 7, became the latest victim of an FBI raid and arrest on the morning of Friday September 23 — for supposed “FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act” violations — at his rural home as his children looked on “screaming.”
The arrest and raid stems from an altercation with a Planned Parenthood worker.
According to Mark’s wife Ryan-Marie, a “pro-abortion protester” would verbally harrass Mark’s 12-year old son — hurling vulgar and derogatory statements.
When the protestor encroached in the boy’s space, Mark defended his son. At that point, “Mark shoved him away from his child, and the guy fell back,” Ryan-Marie recounts.
The protestor was not injured, but he tried to sue Mark Houck for the assault but his case was thrown out of court in the early summer.
WE CANNOT ALLOW THE LEFT TO HARRASS PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES THIS WAY!
It’s vital to stand in solidarity with a pro-family and pro-life man being unjustly persecuted – please SIGN & SHARE our message of support now.
In case you hadn’t caught on already, the satanic Biden administration is waging war on Christians. https://t.co/E6ChpZVDYW
— Michael (X) Knowles ✊ (@michaeljknowles) September 24, 2022
The description of this arrest sounds like it took place in a totalitarian state. A tragic unraveling of Justice in America. https://t.co/e3vEID7E39
— Bishop J. Strickland (@Bishopoftyler) September 25, 2022
If convicted, Houck faces up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $350,000, according to the Justice Department.
Additional conservative pro-life leaders have weighed in — this is why we need your support ASAP.
“Just in the last few days we’ve seen some pretty glaring examples of what appear to be instances of DOJ [Department of Justice] overreach. You’ve got a Catholic father of seven who formed a group designed to encourage young men to be faithful to their commitments, arrested in front of his seven children just recently. You’ve got all these instances of overreach. It’s deeply concerning to us all. These are all things we’re gonna be looking into.” — US Senator Mike Lee
Tell the Houck family that you stand by them!
SIGN: We stand with pro-life Catholic dad of 7 raided by Biden’s FBI
Please share this petition widely. Let’s stand in solidarity with Mark Houck and his family.
Thank you.
According to Houck, he sees it as a duty to run and “bring about change” as an American citizen and as a Catholic Christian. He also emphasizes that he is not leaving his ministry. “If I am able to bring about change and help restore faith, family, and freedom … if I have the ability to do that, and I neglect that or I refuse to do that, then I will be held accountable for it,” Houck asserts.
In the course of our conversation, Houck and I also discuss his platform and what he hopes to achieve while in Washington.
First, he maintains that he is running to “protect every American citizen from what happened to me, happening to them,” something he considers “fundamental.” He also maintains that he will be helping his district by “bringing the narrative to D.C.”
“If I’m in Congress … they’re not going to be able to run from the weaponization of the government because I will always be there in their face,” he says.
Houck also states that he is running to fight abortion. Pointing out that the Biden administration is attempting to support abortion in any way it can in the wake of the Dobbs decision, Houck tells me that there is a need to “be there to continue to fight that and … protect what we’ve already achieved.” Houck further asserts that abortion remains an issue, and that people must “continue to be vigilant on the … culture of life issues.”
“We just had the vote in our district by my congressman for abortion funding in the military,” Houck notes. “Even though abortion isn’t really supported on a federal level, we have all this being pushed on our military.”
Addressing the issue of LGBT ideology, Houck tells me that he would look at the issue as a street evangelizer, recalling that people are wounded while at the same time educating his fellow congressmen about the origins of LGBT ideology and that it is not supported by science.
Quoting Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Houck adds that LGBT ideology is “contrary to the creative wisdom of God,” and that “we need to acknowledge that and do it in a way that makes sense … and that we recognize that if we continue to support policies [supporting LGBT ideology], it’s going to bring a whole world of other problems … and other issues, and all sorts of dysphoria that’s going to come in other new and disgusting ways.”
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