Republican Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, known for his anti-abortion stance, will resign after it was revealed that he asked his lover to terminate a pregnancy.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday announced Murphy's resignation, which takes effect October 21.
Murphy's decision came after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published text messages between Murphy and Shannon Edwards, the woman with whom he admitted having extra-marital relations.
In a January 25 text, Edwards told the pro-life congressman, "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 weekend when we thought that was one of the options."
Her accusation appears to refer to a message posted on the congressman's Facebook page criticizing abortion policy in the United States.
Murphy wrote back that it was his staff, not him, that was responsible for the message: "I've never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don't write any more.''
At the time, both thought she was pregnant, although it turned out she wasn't.
The revelation came as the House on Tuesday approved Republican legislation that would make it a crime to perform an abortion after 20 weeks of fetal development. Murphy, a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, is among the bill's co-sponsors and voted for it.
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