O’Connor offers defense for her abortion stands

What first woman candidate might face Page AS WASHINGTO! 1t;PII – Sandra O’Connor, the Arizona ;tate appeals court judge President Rea~an has_ nominated to become the first woman Supreme Court Justice, today reiterated her opposition to abortion and tried to justify for conservative senators her past legislative votes that have drawn strong opposition. . While anti-abortion pickets demonstrated outside the Senate Office Buildmg. O’Connor made a histOric appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee that will pass on her qualifications and faced criticism that her votes a member of the Arizona Senate showed ~he favored abortion . -My own viev. m the area of abortion is that I am opposed to it as a matter of birth control or otherwise,” she said. “The subject of abortion is a valid one m my view fo~ legis!ativ;, action subject to any constitutional restrarnts or limitations. Answering tho? questions of committee chairman Strom Thurmond. R.S.C., O’Connor said she opposed urgrng Congress to launch an anti-abortion constitutional amend ment in 1974 because she thought the subject needed more thoughtful consideration. , She. testified that she opposed another anti-abortion bill I . as the Arizona Senate majority leader because, in her vi~w, it had been inappropriately attached as a rider to an entll’ely ‘ different bill by the Arizona House. O’Connor said she supported a 1973 bill to widen public knowledge of contraceptive practices. But she added that as a Supreme Court justice