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Mrs. O’Connor gets Senate panel’s OK

September 15, 1981

ITEM DETAILS

Type: Newspaper article
Author: Associated Press
Source: Tucson Daily Citizen
Collection: The Kauffman-Henry Collection
Date is approximate: No

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Sandra Day O’Connor today won overwhelming approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee for her nomination to become the first woman on the Supreme Court. The vote was 17-0, with one member voting present. Sixteen senators voted to approve the nomination before Sens. Jeremiah Denton and John East withheld their votes while they made statements. East, R-N.C., then voted yes. Denton voted “present.” Denton, an Alabama Republican who had questioned Mrs. O’Connor at length about her views on abortion, has said he felt frustrated because he could not determine where Mrs. O’Connor was “coming from philosophically” on abortion.

Prior to today’s committee vote and action scheduled for tomorrow by the full Senate, court officials scheduled Mrs. O’Connor’s swearing-in ceremony for Sept. 25. The high court begins its fall session 10 days later, the first Monday in October.

If confirmed, Mrs. O’Connor would replace Justice Potter Stewart, who retired in July.

Mrs. O’Connor, a 51-year-old Arizona appeals court judge, quickly dispelled most conservative opposition to her nomination during three days of confirmation hearings last week. She told the hearings that she abhors abortion, but she refused to say how she might vote on an abortion case should one come before the court. She also declined to comment on her views of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion. Mrs. O’Connor said a child should consult with her parents before she has an abortion, but she told the senators that

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