{"id":312924,"date":"2024-05-28T10:38:36","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T15:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=312924"},"modified":"2024-12-11T16:10:58","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T22:10:58","slug":"pro-life-group-mark-houck-lawsuit-doj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-life-group-mark-houck-lawsuit-doj\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-life group joins Mark Houck in lawsuit against Department of Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sidewalk counselor Mark Houck was arrested after his home was raided<\/a> in September of 2022 by 15-20 armed FBI agents, in front of his terrified children. Houck filed suit against<\/a> the Department of Justice (DOJ) in November, and now the pro-life organization 40 Days for Life is joining him.<\/p>\n

Houck’s arrest stemmed from an altercation<\/a> outside of a Planned Parenthood in 2021, during which a regular abortion facility escort allegedly accosted Houck’s 12-year-old son, though there were no clients present at the abortion facility at the time. Houck said he had to physically push the escort to get him away from his son. Despite the fact that lower courts did not charge Houck, the FBI responded by showing up in the early morning hours at Houck’s house in 2022, and charged him with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for assaulting an escort. He was eventually acquitted of all charges<\/a>, but the entire ordeal was traumatizing for his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the children were screaming,\u201d Ryan-Marie, Houck’s wife, said in an interview<\/a> with Live Action founder and president Lila Rose. \u201cMy son was saying, \u2018You can\u2019t take him. He\u2019s my best friend.\u2019 My daughter Therese was really a mess after she saw the people in the back of the house\u2026 It was seven kids running around screaming and crying and grabbing onto my legs.\u201d<\/p>\n