Pa. U.S. Rep. steps down amid scandal

Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy resigned in disgrace yesterday amid allegations the prolife Republican tried to urge his mistress to have an abortion when they thought she was pregnant.

“This afternoon I received a letter of resignation from Congressman Tim Murphy, effective Oct. 21,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said.

“It was Dr. Murphy’s decision to move on to the next chapter of his life, and I support it,” Ryan said of the former psychologist and college professor.

“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,” the Wisconsin Republican said.

The resignation capped an embarrassing series of revelations, among them that Murphy’s mistress, Shannon Edwards, scolded the married congressman via text message in January for a hypocritical post on his Facebook page about abortion.

“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,” she texted Edwards over what turned out to be a pregnancy scare.

A response from Murphy’s phone seemed to distance the congressman, a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, from the pro-life movement he has championed.

“I get what you say about my March for life messages,” read Murphy’s text. “I’ve never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don’t write any more. I will.”

The House on Tuesday approved GOP legislation co-sponsored by Murphy to make it a crime to perform an abortion after 20 weeks of fetal development.