Upper Bucks anti-abortion activist found not guilty in assault case at reproductive clinic
A Catholic father of seven from Bucks County who got into a confrontation with a Planned Parenthood escort outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic was found not guilty in federal charges Monday .
Mark Houck, of Kintnersville, shook hands and embraced his wife, Ryan-Marie, after the verdict was announced, as about two dozen supporters in the courtroom wept. In testimony last week, he told the jury he was not the aggressor but was antagonized by the volunteer while his son was present.
He was acquitted on two violations on the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, stemming from the alleged assault.
“I’m just relieved for the pro-life movement, for my family, and that justice was served and that God blessed my family today,” Houck said.
Houck, founder of a Catholic men’s spiritual ministry, said he will continue praying and counseling patients outside abortion clinics, adding, “The mission continues. We’re doubling down.”
The case received national attention in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last year. But federal prosecutors Ashley Martin and Sanjay Patel said the case was about access to health care.
“It’s not about abortion,” Martin told jurors. “It’s about freedom of access to reproductive rights.”
Defense lawyer Brian McMonagle said it was a case of the Department of Justice using a minor street scuffle between Houck and a Planned Parenthood volunteer, Bruce Love, to trounce Houck’s First Amendment rights to peacefully protest, pray and “sidewalk counsel” at abortion clinics.
“They made a federal case out of a shove,” he said.
FACE Act:Bucks County anti-abortion activist arrest highlights national rise in violence at clinics post-Roe
Testimony focused on two shoving incidents incidents between Houck, 48, and Love, 73, that happened on Oct. 13, 2021 near the Elizabeth Blackwell health clinic at the corner of 12th and Locust streets in the city.
Love filed a private criminal complaint against Houck at the time, but that case never went to trial.
Nearly a year later, in September 2022, three months after Roe was overturned, the DOJ pursued Houck criminally for alleged violations of the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
In the courtroom, the case pitted the testimony of Houck, a Catholic and married father of seven, against Love, a retired computer programmer from suburban Philadelphia, who has escorted patients in and out of Planned Parenthood clinics for 32 years.
Arguments balanced largely on the minutiae of the events of that day, based in part on conflicting testimony between Houck and Love about the first shove, and also video of the second scuffle captured by a surveillance camera.
On that afternoon, Houck and his son, Mark Jr., then 12, prayed the rosary outside the clinic.
Houck was talking to a woman who had just left the clinic and had crossed 12th Street a distance from the clinic, when Love suddenly came up behind them. Houck testified that Love got physically between them. Houck pushed Love away, asking, “What are you doing?”
Love testified he pursued Houck as part of his job to inform patients they don’t have listen to protesters, but also because he said he does not consider Houck encouraging women to seek alternatives for reproductive health care a form of counseling.
The second incident happened about 30 minutes later, when Love again approached the Houcks. Houck Sr. testified that Love began to antagonize him and his son.
“Why don’t you go be with your pedophile priests,” and “Why don’t you go home and masturbate,” Houck recalled Love saying.
Love told the child, “Your dad is a bad man” and “Your dad hates women,” both father and son testified.
Love, in his testimony, denied using foul language toward the boy.
Houck Sr. said he told Love to stop harassing his son and return to the clinic gate. Heated words were exchanged, and Houck ended it by swiftly shoving Love backwards, pushing him to the sidewalk, bumped, bruised and bleeding. The injuries were minor.
The DOJ argued the FACE Act covers intimidation of anyone who provides “reproductive health care” which they say includes escorts like Love.
The jury began deliberations Friday, but when a juror could not continue on Monday for undisclosed reasons, he was dismissed and an alternate took his place. Judge Gerald Pappert then told the jury to restart their deliberations Monday morning. An hour later they were done.
“See you at 12th Street,” Houck said to a courtroom supporter.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Upper Bucks anti-abortion activist acquitted of FACE Act violations at clinic
