HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Zabel says he will resign from the House of Representatives on March 16 amid allegations of sexual harassment.

Zabel’s resignation was announced by House Democrats on Wednesday afternoon.

In a letter to Speaker Joanna McClinton, Zabel said “serving my neighbors as the representative for the 163rd Legislative District has been the honor of my life. At this time, I will be stepping back from this role to focus on my family and my health.”

Zabel, who already resigned from his committee assignments, has been publicly accused by a lobbyist, who alleged that he groped her. Zabel stated that he is receiving treatment for an illness that caused disturbing behaviors.

State Representative Abby Major, a Republican from western Pennsylvania, also alleged that Zabel sexually harassed her. Major alleged that Zabel put his hands on her in a Harrisburg bar last November and followed her when she left.

Major said she is telling her story to shine a light on the fact that ethics rules are not sufficient to protect women who work in and around the Capitol. However, the proposed rules probably wouldn’t cover the incident in question, since this occurred at an event that wasn’t an official House function.

“Someone has to keep this fight going. I feel like I have the least to lose and I can’t sleep at night thinking he is just going to get away with this behavior. Alcoholism is terrible and I hope he gets help, but it is not an excuse or a pass to assault and harass women. I’m tired of men using it as such, plenty of other men manage to keep their hands to themselves even after they have had a few too many drinks,” explained Major.

House and Senate Republicans had previously called on Zabel to resign.

Republicans had accused Democrats of protecting Zabel because they needed his vote to ensure Joanna McClinton became speaker, and to preserve their narrow majority.

McClinton told abc27’s Dennis Owens prior to Zabel’s resignation that she did not have a comment regarding the criticism.

With March 8 being International Women’s Day, a lot of empowering things have been happening for women in Harrisburg lately. They lead both Chambers of the Legislature.

However, women say that more needs to be done when it comes to House Ethics Rules.