The Latest: Pro-abortion group says congressman a hypocrite

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Latest on an anti-abortion Republican congressman accused of asking his mistress to get an abortion (all times local):

8:45 p.m.

A pro-abortion rights group says a Pennsylvania anti-abortion Republican congressman accused of asking his mistress to get an abortion is a hypocrite.

NARAL Pro-Choice America says U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy “tried to cover up an affair by invoking the same abortion rights he tries to deny to others.” It says Murphy “demonstrated the height of hypocrisy” Tuesday by voting to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says it obtained text messages between Murphy and mistress Shannon Edwards. It reports a January text from Edwards says Murphy had “zero issue” promoting his “pro-life stance” despite asking her to have an abortion a week earlier. A text from Murphy’s number says his staff is responsible for his anti-abortion messages.

It turns out Edwards wasn’t pregnant.

Murphy’s spokeswoman has no comment.

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6 p.m.

A Pittsburgh newspaper is reporting that an anti-abortion congressman asked a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair to have an abortion when he thought she might be pregnant.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says (bit.ly/2xeEOe4) it obtained text messages between Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy and Shannon Edwards. A Jan. 25 text message from Edwards that says the congressman had “zero issue” promoting his “pro-life stance” despite asking her to “abort our unborn child just last week.”

Edwards, it turned out, wasn’t pregnant.

Murphy recently acknowledged the affair, which became public as a result of Edwards’ divorce proceedings. His spokeswoman had no comment on the latest report.

Murphy is co-sponsoring a bill that would outlaw most late-term abortions. House Republicans are pushing it toward passage Tuesday.