Foes take last O’Connor shot

WASHINGTON -The anti-abortion forces opposing the Supreme Court nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor fired their last shot Friday in a hopeless bid to persuade the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject the Arizona judge.

In its third day of testimony, the committee heard from pro-life groups opposed to the 51-year-old Arizona Appeals Court judge and listened to legal organizations and Arizona political leaders laud the qualifications of the first female nomination in the 190-year history of the high court. At a luncheon break, Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., one of the first to push for O’Connor’s nomination, said it appeared that at most three committee members were wavering – Sens. Jeremiah Denton, R-Ala.; John East, R-N.C.; and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. “My gut feeling is that they’re going to come around,” DeConcini said. He added that when he conferred with Denton on Friday morning, the Alabama senator said he’d like to vote for O’Connor, but that he had “to satisfy my conscience” about the abortion issue. After listening to some three dozen witnesses, committee chairman Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., told reporters, “In my judgment she will be confirm~d overwhelmingly with few, if any, votes against her in committee or in the Senate.” A decision could come when the Judiciary Committee meets Tuesday, although any member could force a one-week delay. As O’Connor walked out of the hearing room, she was asked how she thought the hearings went. “I thought it went OK,” she replied.