Thousands object in O’Connor rally

Dallas (AP ) – A crowd of several thousand abortion 01r ponents was stirred to a frenzy as a 12-hour rally protesting the nomination of Sandra O’Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court drew to a close . The rally drew the leaders of America’s conservative movement – Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell , Equal Rights Amendment foe Phyllis Schlafly and evangelist James Robison. The protesters – estimated at 6,800 by organizers and at 4,000 by police – leaped to their feet and cheered Thursday night when speakers demanded that O’Connor , an Arizona appeals court judge, be removed from consideration for the seat because of her views on abortion. The crowd interrupted Moral Majority lead er Jerry Falwell three times with ovations as he warned that abortion could lead to America’s downfall. “America’s national sin is abortion,” Falwell said. “God will judge America, perhaps with Soviet missiles, if we don’J put an end to this biological holocaust.” Falwell, who spoke near the end of the rally organized by the Religious Roundtable, said he had promised President Reagan he would withhold comment on O’Connor’s nomination until after next week’s Senate confirmation hearings. But other speakers drew cheers and cries of “Amen” when they called for Reagan to withdraw the nomination and for O’Connor to remove herself from consideration. Schlafly, the anti-ERA crusader, told the crowd O’Connor’s pro-abortion stand as an Arizona legislator was ” out of step with the pro-family, pro-life policies on