Pro-Life Lawmaker Urged Mistress to Get Abortion

A vocal pro-life GOP congressman and doctor once got a patient pregnant and urged her to get an abortion in an attempt to save his marriage, according to a transcript from a 12-year-old telephone conversation obtained by the Huffington Post. Anonymous sources have confirmed that the call is authentic, and Rep. Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, who rode the Tea Party wave into Congress, hasn't denied it's his voice on the tape.

"You told me you'd have an abortion, and now we're getting too far along without one," he says on the call. When she complains that he had promised to accompany her to the procedure, he responds, "I said, if I could, I would, didn't I? And I will try. If I can [find] time, you're saying you still will?" She answers, "Yeah." DesJarlais, who is currently leading his opponent in the 2012 race, dismisses the issue as "old news," reports the Washington Post. "Desperate personal attacks do not solve our nation’s problems." (More pro life stories.)