The pro-life congressman who was caught asking his mistress to get an abortion says he will retire at the end of the term.
In a statement Wednesday, Rep. Tim Murphy, Pennsylvania Republican, said that he will “take personal time to seek help as my family and I continue to work through our personal difficulties.”
The announcement comes one day after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published text messages between Mr. Murphy and Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist in Pittsburgh. Mr. Murphy admitted to having an affair with Ms. Edwards last month.
The text messages revealed that Mr. Murphy, who is pro-life, had asked Ms. Edwards to procure an abortion when he thought she was pregnant.
“And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options,” Ms. Edwards wrote in the Jan. 25 conversation.
“I get what you say about my March for life messages,” Mr. Murphy responded. “I’ve never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don’t write anymore. I will.”
The affair came to light when the husband of Ms. Edwards filed for divorce in July and sought to depose the congressman as part of the proceedings.
Mr. Murphy is a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus and received a 100 percent score from the National Right to Life last session.
On Tuesday, he voted in favor of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which prohibits abortions after 20 weeks of gestation. That bill passed the House by a near party-line vote of 237-189.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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