Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Murphy isn’t the first and won’t be the last hypocrite politician who fails to practice what he so emphatically preaches.
Rep. Tim Murphy reportedly asked his girlfriend to have an abortion while championing abortion restrictions for everyone else.
In fact, it’s unlikely any politician who votes to restrict access to safe legal abortion would ever have to practice what they preach. Every politician’s vote for an abortion restriction is a vote to preserve one standard of personal freedom and medical safety for themselves and loved ones, and a lower standard for their constituents. We know from public health data before Roe v. Wade that criminalizing abortion simply reserves access to the full range of standard reproductive healthcare for the relatively rich, and it is the working-class and poor—disproportionately women of color–who suffer the potentially fatal consequences of restricting access to safe legal abortion.
We suspect Rep. Tim Murphy knows this. We know this. Professional medical associations know this, which is why they strongly oppose H.R. 36, the 20-week ban co-sponsored by Rep. Tim Murphy that passed the House yesterday.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is the country’s leading group of physicians providing health care for women.
From ACOG’s statement on H.R.36: “The clear consensus by leading medical groups is that a ban on abortion after 20 weeks would interfere with the physician-patient relationship at a time when women are in need of empathetic, respectful and evidence-based care. These medical decisions should be made solely by each individual woman in consultation with those she trusts the most, including her obstetrician-gynecologist – not politicians.”
Frankly, we’re not particularly interested in Rep. Tim Murphy’s personal life. Now if only the Congressman would stop inserting himself into the personal decisions and lives of women and families across the United States.
We strongly urge all U.S. Senators to vote against this cruel bill.
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing the rights of women and girls.
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