"I Had One Hand on the Door of Planned Parenthood, Then..."

“I had one hand on the door about to go into Planned Parenthood, and then Mark stopped us, and he was like, ‘You guys don’t have to do this,'” Jadda explained.

It was a moment that changed everything for a young mother and father and their unborn child.

You know Mark. You met him a couple of weeks ago in this column when we talked about how 25-30 police officers stormed his home early in the morning and arrested him in front of his wife and seven children.

Here's the next chapter in that story.

Be informed and inspired, not misled.

A couple who were preparing to abort their unborn child is crediting embattled pro-life counselor Mark Houck with helping change their minds while also stopping them from a lifetime of regret.

About Mark Houck

On September 27, I wrote about Mark Houck in this "Faith and  Freedom Daily" column and talked about him on our radio program.

A well-known pro-life author, public speaker, and sidewalk counselor was arrested in front of his children after the Department of Justice ordered a SWAT raid on his house for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. 

Mark Houck, a devout Catholic and a father of seven drove two hours to Philadelphia every Wednesday to speak outside of abortion clinics for six to eight hours at a time, according to his wife Ryan-Marie Houck. 

There was an altercation, and a suit was filed, but the claim was thrown out of court---then the Biden administration with their SWAT team came for the devout Catholic.

I know---many of you who read this are not Catholics. Some are. But all of us should be informed of what happened next. And we should care.

Mark's wife, "Ryan-Marie," a homeschooling mom described how the SWAT team of 25 to 30 FBI agents swarmed their property with around 15 vehicles at 7:05 a.m. this morning. Having quickly surrounded the house with rifles in firing position, “they started pounding on the door and yelling for us to open it.”

Before opening the door, she explained, her husband tried to calm them, saying, “‘Please, I’m going to open the door, but, please, my children are in the home. I have seven babies in the house.’ But they just kept pounding and screaming.” 

When he opened the door, “they had big, huge rifles pointed at Mark and pointed at me and kind of pointed throughout the house,” Ryan-Marie described.

When they came in, they ordered the kids to stay upstairs. “Our staircase is open, so [the kids] were all at the top of the stairs which faces the front door, and I was on the stairs as well, coming down.”

The kids were all just screaming. It was all just very scary and traumatic,” the wife and mother explained.

Why were the police taking these actions with this kind of force?

The warrant charged Mark with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, due to a claimed “ATTACK OF A PATIENT ESCORT.”

Ryan-Marie stated this charge comes from an incident that had already been thrown out of the District Court in Philadelphia but was somehow picked up by Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice.

On several occasions when Mark went to sidewalk counsel last year, he took his eldest son, who was only 12 at the time. She said for “weeks and weeks,” a “pro-abortion protester” would speak to the boy saying “crude … inappropriate and disgusting things,” such as “your dad’s a fag,” and other statements that were too vulgar for her to mention.

Repeatedly, Mark would tell this pro-abortion man that he did not have permission to speak to his son and to please refrain from doing so. And “he kept doing it and kind of came into [the son’s] personal space” obscenely ridiculing his father. At this point, “Mark shoved him away from his child, and the guy fell back.”

He didn’t have any injuries or anything, but he tried to sue Mark, and the case was thrown out of court in the early summer.

Mark has now pleaded not guilty to the abortion activist's charges.

The next chapter of this story of courage.

Jadda and Jakeem, who now have a daughter named Nevaeh, shared their story in a recently posted YouTube video by the Pro-life Union of Greater Philadelphia, praising Mark Houck and pro-lifers for encouraging and supporting them.

Jadda explains, "I had one hand on the door about to go into Planned Parenthood, and then Mark stopped us, and he was like, 'You guys don't have to do this'."

She says, "It was a moment that ended up changing everything." She describes how she felt "shame and guilt" when she first found out she was pregnant---she says "others compounded those feelings."

But Houck's decision to step into the gap and help the couple overcome fear encouraged them to turn back, cancel the abortion, and have their baby.

"We talked to him and he really got through to us," Jakeem says. "He opened our eyes to a lot of stuff."

Jadda and Jakeem are praising Houck for his kindness in their lives, noting he didn't just convince them not to abort but that he and other pro-lifers also supported them along the way.

She says, "Anybody can be a crutch but can't nobody fix yours, and that's what he did. He told us and made us feel like, 'We got this'."

Jadda and Jakeem named the baby "Nevaeh"---"heaven" spelled backward.

"We named her Nevaeh because she is exactly heaven-sent," Jadda says. "A gift straight from God Himself."

Mark's case is far from over. Republican members of Congress are now looking into this matter, seeking answers.

Takeaway 

If you’ve been in church circles over the years, you may have heard people refer to “the Joshua Generation,” meaning young people who are full of spiritual fire and zeal, ready to make an impact for the Lord. I've made many appeals to the young to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth if he calls them to do so. 

But to be biblically accurate, while the people Joshua was leading were all under 40, he was at least 60.

If you question his age, do the math. 

I believe we are all facing a "Joshua moment" in our nation. Regardless of our age, God is calling His people to have courage---to take a stand for righteousness. To lead, not merely follow the culture.

It isn't hopeless, and we are not helpless. God is with us.

Of the 12 men selected to spy out the land, only Joshua and Caleb brought back a favorable report. While the 10 focused on the Canaanite giants and fortified cities, Joshua and Caleb focused their minds and hearts on God and took courage.

Not all of us are called to do what Mark Houck is doing---but some of us are---but we are all called to "be of good courage," "take a stand," and "choose you this day whom you will serve."  

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Courageous. Be Prayerful.