Commentary
​Early in the morning of Sept. 23, a team of FBI agents suddenly appeared at the home of Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck in rural Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. According to Houck’s wife, Ryan-Marie, the FBI squad, numbering about 25 people, emerged from about 15 vehicles and swarmed on the family’s front lawn, sporting helmets, shields, and drawn guns. After reportedly threatening to break down the front door, the agents handcuffed Houck, age 48, in front of the couple’s seven terrified children and led him away.
Houck’s alleged crime: On Oct. 13, 2021, nearly a year previously, he had driven to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia, as was his weekly custom, to pray and protest peacefully outside. On the sidewalk he encountered one of the volunteer “escorts” who whisk women inside abortion clinics as soon as they arrive. Houck allegedly shoved the escort, a 72-year-old man who, Houck said, had verbally harassed his 12-year-old son whom he had brought with him. Planned Parenthood called the Philadelphia police, who arrived at the scene but decided not to make an arrest. The Philadelphia district attorney similarly declined to prosecute Houck over the incident. The escort reportedly sued Houck, but a judge threw out the case after the escort allegedly failed to appear in court….