‘We Will Not Back Down’: Donations Pour In For Pro-Life Father Of Seven Arrested, Raided By FBI SWAT Team At Home

Conservative News DailySeptember 25, 2022

Donations are pouring into a GiveSendGo crowdfunding account for a pro-life activist and father of seven who was arrested and had his family home raided by some 20 to 30 FBI agents on Friday.

Mark Houck, who leads a nonprofit group that provides sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics in Philadelphia, was seemingly targeted by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice over an incident last year involving his then-12-year-old son at a Planned Parenthood abortion facility.

Houck protected his son from an aggressive Planned Parenthood escort harassing the 12-year-old, Pennsylvania pro-life activist Ashley Garecht told The Daily Wire, noting that the case was dismissed by a federal court in Philadelphia when the escort tried to press charges.

“We will not back down, we will not stop fighting to protect the lives of Pennsylvania’s unborn children, and we WILL NOT TOLERATE the harassment of our leaders by a corrupt and politicized justice system,” the GiveSendGo page for Houck asserts.

The goal of the fundraiser is to collect $75,000 for the activist’s wife, Ryan-Marie Houck — and as of Sunday morning, more than $74,000 had already been donated.

Joe and Ashley Garecht created the crowdfunding page. Notably, the couple’s daughters in 2019, then just 13 and 15 years old, were harassed by then-State Rep. Brian Sims (D) for several minutes as they prayed for unborn children outside a Pennsylvania abortion clinic.

The crowdfunding page describes Houck’s son being harassed and the activist stepping in to protect him.

“Last year, Mark and his son were praying in front of the [Planned Parenthood] at 12th and Locust,” the page reads. “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.”

“It’s all on video,” the account details. “But that hasn’t stopped Planned Parenthood and the Biden Administration. With no prior warning, and in spite of the fact that Mark is represented by an attorney, Biden’s Justice Department sent a fully armed SWAT team into a home full of young children at daybreak, to arrest a father for protecting his son.”

The Garechts say the funds raised through the campaign “will go to help the family with any necessary expenses.”

“Your generosity is greatly appreciated,” the couple adds. “Let’s show the Houck family they are not alone, while we show Planned Parenthood and its militant pro-abortion allies that the pro-life community will not be silenced by fear and intimidation.”