WASHINGTON (AP/WMAL) — Republican Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, a pro-life lawmaker who allegedly urged his mistress to have an abortion when he thought she was pregnant, is resigning from Congress.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Thursday announced Murphy’s plans to leave Congress, effective Oct. 21. The decision comes less than 24 hours after Murphy said he would retire at the end of his term next year.
“It was Dr. Murphy’s decision to move on to the next chapter of his life, and I support it,” Ryan said in a statement. “We thank him for his many years of tireless work on mental health issues here in Congress and his service to the country as a naval reserve officer.”
Murphy’s downfall came quickly, within days of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publishing text messages between the married congressman and Shannon Edwards.
A Jan. 25 text message from Edwards told the congressman he had “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,” according to the newspaper.
A text message from Murphy’s number in response said his staff was responsible for his anti-abortion messages: “I’ve never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don’t write any more.”
Edwards, it turned out, wasn’t pregnant. Murphy recently acknowledged his affair with Edwards, which became public as a result of her divorce proceedings.
Here’s the statement from Rep. Murphy:
“After discussions with my family and staff, I have come to the decision that I will not seek reelection to Congress at the end of my current term.
“I plan to spend my remaining months in office continuing my work as the national leader on mental health care reform, as well as issues affecting working families in southwestern Pennsylvania.
“We have accomplished much in the past year through the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act and there is much work yet to be done.
“In the coming weeks I will take personal time to seek help as my family and I continue to work through our personal difficulties and seek healing. I ask you to respect our privacy during this time.”
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