Chip Roy seeks repeal of law limiting abortion clinic protests after Houck acquittal
Jeremiah Poff
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Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) called on Congress to consider repealing a 1994 law that bars obstructing the entrance to abortion clinics in the wake of the acquittal of Mark Houck, a Pennsylvania anti-abortion activist.
Houck was acquitted Monday of federal charges that he violated the Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances Act during an October 2021 incident outside a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in which he shoved clinic escort Bruce Love. Houck said he was only trying to get Love away from his son.
CATHOLIC ACTIVIST ACQUITTED AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF SHOVING ABORTION CLINIC VOLUNTEER
Roy blasted the Department of Justice and the FBI for their handling of the case, saying “this brazen exercise in intimidation never should have happened,” and called on Congress to look at repealing the act.
“Congress must continue oversight of the FACE Act and should consider a full repeal of this eminently abused and clearly weaponized federal usurpation of state police powers,” Roy said in a statement. “Congress should also take a hard look at the tens of billions we’re giving to the Department of Justice and exactly how those funds are being used.”
Roy was one of several Republican lawmakers to express support for Houck in the hours following the Catholic anti-abortion activist’s acquittal.
In a tweet on Monday, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) called the prosecution of Houck “vile,” adding, “We need answers from FBI leadership about who decided to prosecute an innocent man.”
https://twitter.com/JDVance1/status/1620214530952560642?s=20&t=ex3a21bWFUsR1ubIKr3cAA
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) slammed the prosecution of Houck as an effort “to intimidate pro-life Americans and people of faith.”
https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1620158378843709441?s=20&t=ex3a21bWFUsR1ubIKr3cAA
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Following the verdict on Monday, Peter Breen, the executive vice president and head of litigation for the Thomas More Society, which represented Houck, said, “The jury saw through and rejected the prosecution’s discriminatory case, which was harassment from day one. This is a win for Mark and the entire pro-life movement. The Biden Department of Justice’s intimidation against pro-life people and people of faith has been put in its place.”