NEW YORK — Republican congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania — a Catholic and outspoken pro-life legislator — is under fire for allegedly pressuring his mistress to have an abortion.
The accusations are based on text message exchanges with Shannon Edwards of Pittsburgh with whom the congressman has admitted to having a relationship.
Edwards wrote to Murphy in January accusing him of hypocrisy after believing she was pregnant.
“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,” Edwards wrote to Murphy via text message.
Murphy replied: “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.”
The March for Life is held annually in January to protest the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, which granted widespread legal access to abortion.
In September, Murphy acknowledged having an extramarital affair.
“Last year I became involved in an affair with a personal friend,” he said in a statement. “This is nobody’s fault but my own, and I offer no excuses. To the extent that there should be any blame in this matter, it falls solely upon me.”
RELATED: U.S. House passes bill to ban most abortions after 20 weeks
The congressman, who is up for re-election in 2018, is a member of the House pro-life caucus. On Tuesday, the House passed a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks. Murphy is a co-sponsor of the legislation and voted in favor of it.
Murphy has served in the House of Representatives since 2003 and has a 100% pro-life voting record according to the Family Research Council. The congressman notes on his congressional website that he and his wife attend St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
When Crux contacted Murphy’s office for comment, his director of communications Carly Atchinson said, “The office has no comment or response to the story.”
