Despite a house raid and threat of prosecution and imprisonment, pro-life activist Mark Houck and his family ‘are not victims. They are victorious in the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Just a block and a half from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia stands a large colorful mural with a quotation by Abraham Lincoln saying, “It is the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and wrong — throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will forever continue to struggle.”

I snapped a photo of it with my phone after I got lucky and parked my car not too far from the event I was covering. I walked down the busy city street in Old City and soon spotted about 75 people standing in a semicircle around a small wooden podium in front of the building housing the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Three armed Department of Homeland Security officers stood nearby peering at the gathering through dark sunglasses. For a few minutes people milled around, some holding signs declaring the sacredness of life. One man prayed the Rosary with his eyes closed. One woman held up a sign declaring that she was progressive, atheist and pro-life.

To my pleasant surprise I met some people that I knew, including an old friend I’d worked with as a reporter in secular newspapers years ago. She didn’t recognize me, which means either I’m getting old or her eyes are going bad. (Probably her eyes, right?)

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