WASHINGTON -- President Reagan's decision to nominate Arizona Judge Sandra O'Connor as the Supreme Court's first woman justice outraged some of his traditional allies and overjoyed many of his critics.
Several conservative groups, including the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, charged betrayal in Reagan's selection of someone they see as a supporter of abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment -- issues they oppose.
A number of feminist groups rejoiced in Reagan's historic decision to break the sexual barrier at the nation's highest court.
'Judge Sandra Day O'Connor's nomination to the Supreme Court is a victory for the women's movement ... a significant one,' said Eleanor Smeal, president of the National Organization for Women.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said they would take a long look at the 51-year-old appeals court judge and promised not to let single issues decide whether they recommend her for Senate confirmation.
The controversy surrounding Mrs. O'Connor focuses on votes she cast on abortion and the ERA while a member of the Arizona Senate from 1970 to 1975.
None of the criticism made mention of her sex.
Falwell said the record indicates Mrs. O'Connor opposes curbs on 'the biological holocaust' of abortion and supports ERA, 'which Moral Majority believes would be a disaster for men and women.'
Said Falwell: 'Either the president did not have sufficient information about Judge O'Connor's background in social issues or he chose to ignore that information.'
Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., who offered Mrs. O'Connor's name to Reagan last month, bristled at the criticism.
'You could offer the Lord's name for some of these positions and you'd find some of these outfits objecting even to him being appointed to anything,' Goldwater said.
'I don't buy this idea that a justice of Supreme Court has to stand for this, that or the other thing and I'm getting a little tired of people in this country raising hell becuase they don't happen to subscribe to every thought that that particular person has,' he said.
Deputy White House press secretary Larry Speakes, replying to the Moral Majority and its allies, complained of 'some misrepresentation' and 'simplistic' interpretation of Mrs. O'Connor's views.
Speakes said Mrs. O'Connor told the president when interviewed last Wednesday that she is 'personally opposed' to abortion.
'She also feels that the subject of the regulation of abortion is a legitimate subject for the legislative area,' he said, although she has not taken a public position on an anti-abortion amendment to the Constitution.
Speakes said one of Mrs. O'Connor's state Senate votes now at issue was on a procedural question. An anti-abortion rider was attached to a bill involving construction of a stadium and 'she voted against it' on grounds it was not germane, he said.
Connie Marshner, who headed the Family Advisory Board of Reagan's presidential campaign, denounced the president's decision, also citing the abortion and ERA issues.
'We are shocked and deeply concerned by today's nomination,' Mrs. Marshner said in a statement.
She noted that the 1980 GOP platform pledged the Republican Party to 'work for the appointment of judges at all levels of the judiciary who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of human life.'
Mrs. Marshner said, 'We do not believe that Sandra O'Connor fulfills these qualifications, and thus, it is our sincere regret that we must actively oppose her.'
The National Right to Life Committee took a similar stand.
But Planned Parenthood commended Reagan for nominating a woman who 'from all reports ... is a highly respected jurist who has served the citizens of Arizona with distinction.'
Potter Stewart, who created the high court vacancy with his retirement last week, spoke highly of his prospective successor with no mention of ERA or abortion.
'Everything I know about Judge O'Connor is favorable -- not only good, but very good,' he said. 'Her professional competence is of the highest quality, and her character is very, very good.'
Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., a leading congressional foe of abortion, said, 'I am not going to prejudge the lady. I don't know her.'
He said he heard 'many concerns' from anti-abortion and anti-ERA groups, but would withhold judgment until he examines her record.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said, 'For many years there have been women with the highest qualifications for our nation's highest court. Every American can take pride in the president's commitment to select such a woman for this critical office.'
A spokesman for Richard Nixon, Nicholas Ruwe, said the former president called Mrs. O'Connor's nomination 'a dramatic breakthrough for women, the court and the nation.'
Longtime feminist Gloria Steinem, who has criticized Reagan for his stands on abortion and ERA, said:
'It is ironic, and a clear tribute to the growing political strength of women, that the first female supreme court nominee should have been appointed by the most anti-equality president in American history. Now, we must wait to see who Judge O'Connor is.'
Among the scores of statements issued in response to the nomination was one from first lady Nancy Reagan.
'I'm sure my husband picked the most qualified person, which is what matters the most,' she said.
