Is The Abortion Escort Who Went After Pro-Lifer Mark Houck The Real FACE Act Violator? Court Filing Suggests Yes

Some 20 law enforcement officers, including many with ballistic shields, long guns, and a battering ram, swarmed outside the home of Mark Houck in late September 2022 to arrest, at gunpoint, the father of seven on an indictment charging him with violating the Federal Access to Clinic Entrances or “FACE” Act. But it was the purported escort for Planned Parenthood whom Houck allegedly pushed, and not Houck, who violated the FACE Act, according to a recent court filing. And the Biden administration’s selective use of the FACE Act to prosecute pro-lifers compels the dismissal of the charges against Houck, his attorneys argued earlier this week.

On Sept. 20, 2022, the Department of Justice charged Houck in a two-count federal indictment with alleged violations of the FACE Act related to two encounters Houck had with Bruce Love. First, according to the indictment, on Oct. 13, 2021, Houck shoved Love to the ground as the latter “attempted to escort two [Planned Parenthood patients.]” (The indictment referred to Love as “B.L.” throughout, but his name appears in a search of the Philadelphia court records.) The second count alleged that on Oct. 13, 2021, Houck “verbally confronted” B.L. and then “forcefully shoved B.L. to the ground in front of the [Planned Parenthood facility], causing injuries to B.L. that required medical attention.”

However, as I previously reported, these allegations conflicted with the private criminal complaint Love filed against Houck shortly after the encounter. That criminal complaint, obtained in October by The Federalist, revealed that Love described only one incident with Houck and made no mention of attempting to escort Planned Parenthood clients. According to his state criminal complaint, Houck “was standing on the corner and [Love] was standing a few feet away from [Houck] waiting for clients. [Houck] stated to [Love] to stay away from him and that he will push [Love] into the street. As [Love] was walking away from [Houck], [Love] states [Houck] pushed [Love] causing him to fall to the ground.” The complaint then notes that Love notified the police and sought medical treatment a few days later.

The state criminal complaint was later dismissed, only to have the Biden administration obtain a federal FACE Act indictment in October, with charges still pending in a Philadelphia federal court.

But now, Houck seeks dismissal of the federal charges. And in a motion to dismiss filed earlier this week, attorneys for the pro-life father explain the disparity between Love’s state criminal complaint and the federal indictment and in doing so expose the Department of Justice’s duplicity.

Facts of the Case

Count one of the indictment, the motion to dismiss notes, alleges Houck “shoved” Love as Love “attempted to escort two [Planned Parenthood] patients.” “But the Indictment blatantly omits that, indisputably, any physical contact occurred outside a pregnancy resource center across the street from the abortion facility approximately 100 feet away, and only once Mr. Love had overtaken and obstructed Mr. Houck,” the motion to dismiss continues. The two woman had already left the abortion