Republican Family Values

Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA 18), a prominent anti-abortion wingnut, has been caught trying to convince his mistress to get an abortion.

A text message sent in January to U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy by a woman with whom he had an extra-marital relationship took him to task for an anti-abortion statement posted on Facebook from his office's public 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," Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist in Pittsburgh with whom the congressman admitted last month to having a relationship, wrote to Mr. Murphy on Jan. 25, in the midst of an unfounded pregnancy scare.

A text from Mr. Murphy’s cell phone number that same day in response says, "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 congressman has been lauded by the Family Research Council, for his stance on abortion, as well as for family values, generally. He also has been endorsed by LifePAC, which opposes abortion rights, and is a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, an affiliation that is often cited by his office.

As Atrios notes, "I am sure that there isn't a single anti-abortion male who would object to an abortion if an inconvenient pregnancy happened." (This is true of many of the women as well.)

The article actually covers a whole litany of what is called "Mishugas" by the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania, including an office environment that his chief of staff described as, "A hostile workplace in which Mr. Murphy repeatedly denigrated employees, threatened them and created a state of terror."