Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) is expected to resign from Congress, Roll Call and Politico reported Thursday.
Franks told Roll Call he would make an announcement later Thursday, but did not elaborate on what it would entail.
“The statement will explain,” he said.
Franks huddled with colleagues on the House floor late Thursday afternoon. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) had his arm wrapped around Franks, appearing to be consoling him.
According to Roll Call, rumors of inappropriate behavior circulated before Franks’ announcement.
The eight-term congressman is a social conservative and one of the most aggressive anti-abortion legislators in Congress. He has led the charge, year after year, to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy nationwide and to limit abortion in the District of Columbia. Residents of D.C. protested his efforts in 2012 by lining up outside the Arizona congressman’s office with plastic rats and photos of pot holes, suggesting that he try to fix more pressing problems in the city than women having abortions.
Franks also caused an uproar in 2013 when he claimed during an
abortion debate that the “incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are
very low,” defending his bill’s lack of an exception for rape and incest
victims.
The congressman is notorious for comparing abortion to slavery and the Holocaust. “What changed peoples mind over slavery?” he asked during a 2013 debate on the D.C. anti-abortion bill. “What changed their minds over the tragedy in Eastern Europe, the horror in Eastern Europe?”
Franks further incensed minority rights groups last year when he introduced legislation to impose criminal penalties on doctors who are suspected of performing abortions based on the race or sex of the fetus, which they warned would codify dangerous stereotypes against women of color.
Franks told Roll Call he would make an announcement later Thursday, but did not elaborate on what it would entail.
“The statement will explain,” he said.
Franks huddled with colleagues on the House floor late Thursday afternoon. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) had his arm wrapped around Franks, appearing to be consoling him.
According to Roll Call, rumors of inappropriate behavior circulated before Franks’ announcement.
The eight-term congressman is a social conservative and one of the most aggressive anti-abortion legislators in Congress. He has led the charge, year after year, to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy nationwide and to limit abortion in the District of Columbia. Residents of D.C. protested his efforts in 2012 by lining up outside the Arizona congressman’s office with plastic rats and photos of pot holes, suggesting that he try to fix more pressing problems in the city than women having abortions.
The congressman is notorious for comparing abortion to slavery and the Holocaust. “What changed peoples mind over slavery?” he asked during a 2013 debate on the D.C. anti-abortion bill. “What changed their minds over the tragedy in Eastern Europe, the horror in Eastern Europe?”
Franks further incensed minority rights groups last year when he introduced legislation to impose criminal penalties on doctors who are suspected of performing abortions based on the race or sex of the fetus, which they warned would codify dangerous stereotypes against women of color.
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