The Senate confirmed Sarah Pitlyk to the federal judiciary on Wednesday by a 49–44 vote. Every Democrat presented voted in opposition; every Republican present except Sen. Susan Collins voted in her favor. Pitlyk’s nomination drew controversy for her extreme opposition to reproductive rights: She opposes not just abortion but also surrogacy and even fertility treatments. She currently serves as special counsel to the Thomas More Society, a conservative anti-choice law firm. The American Bar Association unanimously rated her “Not Qualified”; she has never tried a case, though she will now serve as a trial judge. Nonetheless, Senate Republicans gifted her a lifetime appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Pitlyk, 42, has spent much of her career attacking the rights of couples who seek to have children using assisted reproductive technology, or ART, like gestational surrogacy and in vitro fertilization. She co-authored an amicus brief opposing California’s ART protections, asserting (without evidence) that “the practice of surrogacy has grave effects on society, such as diminished respect for motherhood and the unique mother-child bond.” Pitlyk has also declared (again without evidence) that surrogacy “is harmful to mothers and children, so it’s a practice society should not be enforcing.” And she has proclaimed that frozen embryos should be recognized as human beings under the law, writing that these “children” are “killed” when embryos are destroyed. Pitlyk’s position—that states should treat embryos as humans—would likely outlaw not only abortion but also IVF and surrogacy.
