O’Connor Hearings Go Without Falwell

WASHINGTON (AP) – Moral s Majority leader Jerry Falwell will not be among several anti-abortionists ‘; who will testify next week against I Judge Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination to become the first female Supreme Court justice. Falwell’s name was on a list of opposition witnesses released Friday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. But his spokesman in Lynchburg, Va., said Falwell, who opposes abortion, has decided to reserve judgment. “He has decided not to testify at . the O’Connor hearing because it would be perceived in advance that he was opposed to the nomination,” Cal Thomas said. “Conceivably, if her answers are satisfactory, Falwell could speak in support of her nomination.” I t Judge O’Connor, who has been in _ Washington since Monday, will lead off the hearings next Wednesday before the Judiciary Committee. Another 25 persons have been scheduled to appear either in support or opposition to President Reagan’s first high court nominee. The list includes a number of antiabortion groups, including the National Right to Life Committee, which oppose Judge O’Connor’s nomination because they believe she supports the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision legalizing abortion. Testifying in support of the nomination will be representatives of the American Bar Assoc~tion, the National Organization for Women, the National Women’s Political Caucus, the National Bar Association and the National Association of Women Judges. From Arizona, where Judge O’Connor is a judge and former legislator,