The Republican men have passed punitive abortion laws in red states that regulate a woman’s vagina. In a nine-month period, a woman can only have one baby. During the same period of time, a man could impregnate 90 women, so why do the Republicans insist on controlling a woman’s body and not a man’s? What could go wrong?
Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA) was the very epitome of what could go wrong. He sponsored a bill to forbid federal funds from paying for abortions, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
‘(So) we will once again be a nation committed to honoring life from the moment of conception and ensuring American taxpayer dollars are never spent to end a life before it even begins.’
He had an extra-marital relationship with psychologist Shannon Edwards. She with texted him on January 25, 2019 for his hypocritical Facebook page’s anti-abortion stance:
‘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.’
A text originating from Murphy’s cell phone responded:
‘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 first met Edwards at a time he said he was focused on legislation for mental health reform after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Murphy released a statement on September 6, 2018 describing “an affair with a personal friend.”
Edwards’ account was different in her divorce court documents and testimony, saying it had been a long-term relationship. In an email to Edwards, Murphy wrote:
‘I was not looking for a relationship with anyone. But we formed a true bond. It grew deep and fast. It became love. It became in love.’
In a November 27, 2018 email to Edwards, he claimed he “fell into” a relationship with “Susan” after his daughter left home for college. He wrote to Edwards that he was not able to break it off:
I did not see its toxicity until I was months into it. I decided on a long term plan to try to stabilize my life abd [sic] extricate myself from that relationship by building my strength in other areas. While I was belittled and berated and while my confidence was at its nadir i (sic) decided to do some things to demonstrate my own courage.’
Murphy is now co-sponsoring the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act along with 181 other legislators. It would prevent a woman from obtaining an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The only exceptions were rape, incest, or when the pregnancy threatened the life or physical health of the woman. He voted for his bill this week. It passed with 237 for and 189 against. Note, the bill does not provide an exclusion for a woman’s mental health.
In a January 24, 2019 Facebook post, Murphy wrote:
‘The United States is one of just seven countries worldwide that permits elective abortion more than halfway through pregnancy (beyond 20 weeks). It is a tragic shame that America is leading the world in discarding and disregarding the most vulnerable.’
The Family Research Council has applauded his stand against abortion specifically and his family values generally. Abortion opposition LifePAC has endorsed him. Murphy is also a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus.
Murphy’s Chief of Staff Susan Mosychuk wrote a six-page memo June 8, 2018 describing his hostile workplace environment. She wrote that he “denigrated employees, threatened them, and created a state of ‘terror.'” Mosychuk entitled the memo as “Office Conduct and Behavior: Harassment/Legal Compliance:’
‘(There has been an) ongoing and ever more pronounced pattern of sustained inappropriate behavior” from the congressman.’
The memo continued noting Murphy’s problem hiring and retaining a competent staff. It said that the office morale was abysmal:
‘(Plus) hostile, erratic, unstable, angry, aggressive and abusive behavior.’
The memo said Murphy’s office was at a 100 percent turnover rate for one year. Over 100 staff members have left since he hired Mosychuk in 2003. The memo noted that the problems within Murphy’s office related to the Congressional Accountability Act and sought corrective action.
In addition, the memo wrote about a visit by Murphy to his home district between June 2 and June 5:
‘You were storming around as we walked in, and as we sat down for prep — having just arrived literally moments ago — you started in on the [legislative director] and verbally abused him, harassed him, chastised him and criticized all his work products. You called many of the work products that he literally gave up his weekend to produce as “useless.” You pushed other documents off the table onto the floor because they weren’t what you wanted. Then you got angry and demanded we find the documents that you had just thrown on the ground.’
The memo said that after a June 5, 2018 town hall, Murphy drove into a “torrential downpour.” His driving was “dangerous and erratic,” as he read his iPad, texted, and played YouTube videos.
A staff member in Murphy’s office said his communications director Carly Atchison was not available after speaking with Atchison:
‘We have received your message and goodbye.’
