Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA) has resigned from the House of Representatives after the recent revelation that he encouraged a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair to get an abortion.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obtained text messages that were exchanged between Murphy and his mistress, forensic psychologist Shannon Edwards. The text from Edwards scolded Murphy about a pro-life statement posted to his official Facebook account.
“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.”
An incredibly hypocritical reply sent from Murphy’s cell phone stated:
“I get what you say about my March for life messages. I’ve never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don’t write any more. I will.”
While Edwards’ pregnancy turned out to be a false alarm, news about the married politician’s affair came out last month when Murphy admitted to the relationship. The information was forced to come to light when it was included in Edwards’ divorce proceedings.
The original Facebook post that led to Edwards’ text stated, “It is a tragic shame that America is leading the world in discarding and disregarding the most vulnerable.” Murphy is a part of the House of Representatives Pro-Life Caucus. He was one of the co-sponsors and supporters of H.R. 36, a bill that criminalizes abortions that take place after twenty weeks.
In addition to being part of the pro-life caucus, Murphy has been praised by the Family Research Council for his public stances on abortion and traditional family values.
Although Murphy remained quiet about the publicized text messages for a few days, his office released a statement on Wednesday regarding his decision to not seek re-election:
“After discussions with my family and staff, I have come to the decision that I will not seek re-election 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.”
Speaker Ryan released the following statement after Murphy’s resignation:
“This afternoon, I received a letter of resignation from Congressman Tim Murphy, effective October 21. It was Dr. Murphy’s decision to move on to the next chapter of his life, and I support it.”
Congressman Murphy is also under fire for reports of his office being an intimidating working environment. Murphy had a close relationship with his longtime chief of staff, Susan Mosychuk, and between the two, former aides report that the office was under a “reign of terror”. Mosychuk is accused of harassing and mistreating staff, causing an almost 100 percent turnover rate.
