Anti-abortion Scottsdale doctor urges rejecting Judge O’Connor

WASHINGTON – A doctor from Scottsdale on Friday reluctantly opposed the nomination of Sandra O’Connor as the first woman justice of the U.S. Supreme Court because Judge O’Connor refused to declare her unqualified support for the anti -abortion movement dUl’ing Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. Dr. Carolyn Gerster, co-founder of the Arizona Right to Life Committee, told the panel on its final day of hearings into the nomination that she regrets having to oppose Judge O’Connor, whom she has known since the early 1970s. Dr. Gerster, herself a successful woman in a maledominated profession, said, “I believe the nomination of a woman to the Supreme Court is about 200 years overdue. I wish with all my heart that I could support this nominee from Arizona.” She praised the judge and former Arizona state senator as “a highly intelligent, dedicated, capable and likable person.” But she opposed the nomination because she is not satisfied that Judge O’Connor, whose three days of testimony ended Friday, fully has repudiated certain pro-abortion votes she cast while a member of the Arizona Legislature from 1969 to 1975. At the conclusion of the hearing, Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., reiterated his confidence that Judge O’Connor will be confirmed overwhelmingly by the full Senate. But he backtracked from earlier predictions that the confirmation will come as soon as next week. Thurmond said the Judiciary Committee will meet Tuesday to consider the nomination, but he noted