O’Connor pledges Judicial objectivity

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sandra Day O’Connor, apparently coasting toward easy confirmation as the first woman on the Supreme Court said Wednesday she personally believes abortion is abhorrent, but would not let her opinion affect how she handled the issue as a member of the court. “It is a practice I would not have engaged in,” Mrs. O’Connor told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee considering her nomination. Describing her own “abhorrence” to abortion the 51-year-old Arizona appeals court judge said her feelings about the subject are a product of her sense of family values, my sense of how I lead my own life.” Nonetheless, she insisted that “personal views and philosophies” would not be allowed – “as much as that is possible” – to affect her judgment on the facts or constitutionality of cases before the court. After nearly six hours of testimony by Mrs. O’Connor, Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., the committee chairman, predicted untroubled confirmation by the panel and the full Senate . He said a vote in the committee could come as early as Tuesday, with a Senate vote the next day. “I think she handled herself quite well ” he said. “I don’t see a problem In her confirmation .” ‘ Thurmond and several other committee members asked questions about abortion, the one issue around which opposition to her nomination has developed. “My own view in 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