O'Connor stays quiet during court abortion arguments

WASHINGTON (UPI) - With the issue of abortion under consideration in the current Supreme Court term, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is staying as quiet about her views on the subject as she did at confirmation hearings. Usually quick with questions, Mrs. O'Connor, 52, was silent during the first 35 minutes of oral arguments Tuesday. The first woman ever on the high court, Mrs. O'Connor took her seat in September 1981. Tuesday's three-hour argument was the first she has heard on the abortion question. During Senate confirmation hearings, she steadfastly refused to say if she would repudiate the court's historic 1973 decision legalizing abortion. . Her nomination to the court by President Reagan was warmly received in most quarters, but abortion opponents criticized her stand on the issue during her time as an Arizona legislator. Although she said abortion personally offends her, Mrs. O'Connor told senators she would not oppose allowing abortions to save the woman's life and "possibly" for other reasons. In its 1973 ruling, the Supreme Court said protecting the woman's health wruld justify state regulation of abortions in the second three months of pregnancy. Just how far states can go in !llch regulation is the question before the c,urt in cases from Virginia, Missouri and Akron, Ohio, Not until more than halfway throughthe first case did she speak up. By then, seven of the nine justices had raised questiom. Her first query tried