An anti-abortion Republican congressman has announced his resignation following reports that he encouraged his mistress to have an abortion during a pregnancy scare.
Tim Murphy, who represented Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives, said he would step down on 21 October. He had initially said he would not seek re-election in 2018.
Text messages obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette revealed that Murphy, a married father, asked his lover, forensic psychologist Shannon Edwards, to terminate a pregnancy last January. The pregnancy scare later proved unfounded.
Edwards reportedly reminded Murphy of his pro-life stance, writing: '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.' Murphy allegedly replied that staff wrote his anti-abortion messages.
Murphy, a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, voted this week in favour of a bill criminalising abortions after 20 weeks, which he co-sponsored. The measure is expected to fail in the Senate.
House Speaker Paul Ryan confirmed receipt of Murphy's resignation letter, thanking him for his work on mental health issues and his naval reserve service.
