The Biden administration’s targeting of pro-lifers will be on full display this week with the Department of Justice’s prosecution of sidewalk counselor Mark Houck beginning on Tuesday.
Houck’s case first received national attention when upwards of 20 FBI agents swarmed his rural Pennsylvania home in September of 2022 to arrest him on charges that he had violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or “FACE,” Act. The FBI executed the unnecessary SWAT-like raid — reportedly complete with ballistic shields, a battering ram, and multiple agents aiming long guns at Houck — while his wife and seven children watched in horror.
The spectacle was completely unnecessary, as prosecutors in such cases typically issue a summons to appear rather than execute an arrest warrant. In fact, Houck’s attorney informed the prosecutor that he would accept a summons on Houck’s behalf.
Here’s what you need to know about the government’s specious criminal case against Houck.
The Charges
The federal indictment on which the FBI arrested Houck alleged two criminal counts under FACE. The FACE Act, which was passed in 1994 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, criminalizes any person who:
by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person because that person is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person or any other person or any class of persons from, obtaining or providing reproductive health services.
Congress
