When more than a dozen federal agents swarmed the home of Pennsylvania pro-life activist Mark Houck to arrest the unarmed father of seven, it made national headlines. When a jury in Philadelphia acquitted Houck of all federal charges regarding an encounter with a pro-choice protester, it made the news again.
Now, Houck wants to make national news again — by knocking off an incumbent Pennsylvania Republican in next year’s primary.
Houck is challenging four-term Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the 2024 Republican primary for the Bucks County seat. Fitzpatrick is the only remaining Republican congressman in the southeastern Pennsylvania region, and he touts his work on the bipartisan Problem Solvers Committee.
In January, a jury acquitted Houck, 48, of all charges. He had been accused of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for incidents on Oct. 13, 2021, where he pushed a volunteer escort at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia. The escort, who had been confronting Houck’s 12-year-old son, was not seriously injured. Philadelphia courts declined to prosecute Houck, but after Roe v. Wade was overturned about a year later, the Department of Justice brought charges.
Houck, a staunch Catholic who protested in front of abortion clinics for years, could have been sentenced to 11 years in prison if convicted.
Houck said he believes the Biden administration has implemented a two-tier, partisan justice system and comes after “American citizens who are exercising their constitutional rights.”
“I’m an enemy of the state and many others like me,” he said. “And we saw that all played out in 2022. It’s still playing out. So, clearly, there is an agenda there. And you know, I’ve been doing this for 20 years now. All of a sudden, Roe v. Wade gets overturned in June of 2022. And now I’m a target of the federal government. Come on.”
Houck said he is running for Congress because “the republic is falling apart.”
“That’s what Congressman Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) shared with me when I asked him his thoughts about me running. And he said, ‘Look, we need people of integrity. We need people of your character in Washington.’ So, if not you, then who? Right? So that’s the short answer. Obviously, what happened to me and my family, my wife, and seven children, you know, we don’t want that ever to happen to anyone else ever again in this country.”
Perry is a leader in the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
Asked about Houck’s candidacy, the national organization SBA Pro-Life America sounded supportive.
“The Biden-Harris administration will stop at nothing, including weaponizing the Justice Department, to punish political enemies like Mark Houck and protect the abortion industry that spends millions to elect them. It is clear the administration has put a target on anyone who reveals the horror of abortion and works to protect unborn children and their mothers. In this new Dobbs era, that’s why it is so important to have pro-life leaders and put a stop to the Democrats’ extreme agenda.”
Houck runs a nonprofit called The King’s Men. The group helps men in their roles as fathers and providers.
Ashley Garecht, vice chair of the Pro-Life Union of Philadelphia, said that while her organization doesn’t endorse, it shares Houck’s concerns about the Biden Justice Department.
“Given the egregious behavior of the Biden administration’s Department of Justice last year, weaponizing the full force of government in an attempt to strip Mark of his First Amendment and parental rights and intimidate into silence the broader Philadelphia pro-life movement, it is no surprise that Mark is now focused on reforming a federal government that has disintegrated into corruption and one-sided application of justice,” she said.
Houck also said that while abortion is not his only issue, “the life of the child in utero is of primordial importance. And, of course, you know, all things flow from that. So, our decisions on energy, our decisions on education, our decisions on the environment, they’re all going to stem from the dignity of the human person.”
