Sen. Susan Collins will oppose Sarah Pitlyk, President Donald Trump’s nominee to become a federal judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.

In a statement to POLITICO, the Maine Republican voiced concern about Pitlyk’s lack of trial experience, as well as her stance on abortion given previous comments on gestational surrogacy and past legal work.


“Her lack of trial experience would make it difficult for her to transition to a district court judgeship,” Collins said.

She also cited Pitlyk’s comments in a brief she co-wrote in 2017 as a lawyer for the Thomas More Society, an anti-abortion law firm. The brief stated surrogacy leads to the “diminished respect for motherhood and the unique mother-child bond; exploitation of women; commodification of gestation and of children themselves; and weakening of appropriate social mores against eugenic abortion.”

Collins said Pitlyk is entitled to her personal views on abortion, but she questioned “given her pattern of strident advocacy, whether she could put aside her personal views on these matters.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Pitlyk’s nomination along party lines in October, and a floor vote is likely in the coming weeks.



While Collins supported Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court, she has voted against several Trump judicial nominees this year.


In addition to Pitlyk, Collins opposed Steven Menashi’s nomination to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Chad Readler’s nomination to the 6th Circuit, Howard Nielson for the District of Utah, Matthew Kacsmaryk for the Northern District of Texas and Jeffrey Brown for the Southern District of Texas.

All of those judges were confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate.