(LifeSiteNews) — Mark Houck, the pro-life advocate and Catholic father of seven who the Biden administration attempted to imprison for a decade over a minor altercation with an unruly abortion activist, lost his bid to unseat liberal Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania’s first congressional district.
While sidewalk counseling outside a Philadelphia abortion facility in 2021, Houck pushed 70-year-old pro-abortion activist Bruce Love, who had been harassing his then-12-year-old son. The family says Houck shoved the man away to protect the child from Love, who was verbally hostile and had intruded on his personal space, and though Love fell down, he was uninjured.
In September 2022, long after a local court had dismissed the matter when Love failed to appear for a hearing in his civil suit, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland sent a team of 25 to 30 FBI agents and around 15 vehicles to swarm their property, arresting Houck in an early morning raid and charging him with violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. His alleged “ATTACK OF A PATIENT ESCORT” was punishable by potentially a decade in prison and a $350,000 fine.
The case drew intense national scrutiny and outrage, and in January 2023, a jury found Houck not guilty. But the case lingered as a major example highlighted by pro-lifers of the Biden administration weaponizing law enforcement against its political opponents, and last August, Houck announced his candidacy for Congress.
“I have seen firsthand what an out-of-control government can do to its citizens,” he declared. “I will fight to protect all people and their rights under God & our Constitution. My platform is based on common sense.”
His incumbent opponent Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent, is known as one of the most socially liberal Republicans in Congress, and his record includes objecting to measures to defund Planned Parenthood and voting to allow the sale of abortion drugs to states where abortion is illegal. He voted for the so-called “Respect for Marriage Act” to codify homosexual “marriage” in federal law and boasts that he co-sponsored and voted for the radical, pro-LGBT, pro-abortion “Equality Act.”
Fitzpatrick ultimately won the April 23 primary with 61.5% to Houck’s 38.5% in the swing district, which includes Democrat-leaning Bucks County and part of Montgomery County.
Houck responded to defeat with a message of gratitude to his supporters.
“I want to extend a heartfelt thank you for your unwavering support over the past few months,” he said. “Your encouragement, donations, and volunteered time have been invaluable. A special thanks to my beautiful family—through unimaginable experiences, you have been my rock. I believe God has guided us through this election, and I eagerly await the outcome. God Bless America.”
Once represented in the U.S. Senate by pro-life stalwart Rick Santorum, the union-strong Pennsylvania has shifted to the left in recent years. It is currently led by a Democrat governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general and a divided legislature, and sends eleven Democrats to Congress (including both Senate seats) compared to eight Republicans.