Pro-life activist Mark Houck has secured a settlement exceeding $1 million, nearly four years after an FBI raid on his home sparked widespread backlash among supporters.
In a statement released Thursday, the 40 Days for Life Institute of Law & Justice confirmed the outcome, highlighting the resolution of a long-running legal battle tied to the early morning federal operation.
Houck, a Catholic father of seven, had been charged in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Justice under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, commonly known as the FACE Act.
The law allows for federal prosecution of individuals who “intentionally injures, intimidates, or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person” involved in providing abortion services.
The case centered on a 2021 incident in Philadelphia, where Houck and his son were praying outside an abortion clinic.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Houck “twice assaulted a man because he was a volunteer reproductive health care clinic escort,” claiming the individual required “medical attention.”
However, a fundraising account created to support Houck’s legal defense presented a different version of events.
“Last year, Mark and his son were praying in front of the PP at 12th and Locust. When one of the escorts began harassing Mark’s son they walked down the street away from the entrance to the building. When one of the escorts began harassing Mark’s son they walked down the street away from the entrance to the building. The escort followed them, and when he continued yelling at Mark’s son, Mark pushed him away.”
Although Houck was acquitted by a jury in early 2023, he and his wife later filed a civil lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution, abuse of process, false arrest and assault by federal authorities.
In a video message last Thursday, 40 Days for Life CEO Shawn Carney described the outcome as “a bigger victory for the pro-life movement at large,” as well as “a huge victory for free speech” and “a huge victory for all Americans who want our right to speak our minds peacefully in a law-abiding way without fear of our own government.”
Carney further argued that the case reflected broader challenges faced by pro-life advocates, stating they had endured “so much persecution from the DOJ under Biden,” while adding appreciation that “President Trump has corrected that.”
The settlement comes as reports indicate the DOJ is preparing to release findings that the Biden administration “shattered the public’s trust by weaponizing the FACE Act to advance a pro-abortion agenda.”
