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Opposition to Chief Justice Ronald George and Justice Ming Chin is being mounted primarily by abortion foes angered by last year's 4-3 decision to overturn a law requiring unmarried minors to get the consent of a parent or a judge before getting an abortion. George wrote the decision, and Chin joined with the majority.

By mid-Sep-tember, a committee appointed by the California Republican Party to make a recommendation had not taken a position on the retention of George and Chin, both up for new 12-year terms.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren, a longtime opponent of abortion, remains neutral, saying only that he voted to confirm both men when they were named to the bench by Gov. Pete Wilson. Dem-ocrat Gray Davis supports both.

Also facing a confirmation election are Justice Stanley Mosk, who joined the court in 1964 and was confirmed for a new 12-year term in 1986, and Justice Janice Rogers Brown, who was Wilson's legal affairs advisor prior to her 1996 appointment. Mosk and Brown dissented on the abortion ruling and do not face any organized opposition.

A Field Poll conducted last month found that abortion could become an important issue in state races for governor and the U.S. Senate as well as the Supreme Court confirmation elections.

While the survey found widespread support for abortion, it also found that 68 percent of those polled favor requiring teen-agers under 18 to obtain parental consent for an abortion.

In spite of that percentage and the fact that about half of those questioned were undecided about retaining George and Chin, those who have reached a decision favor reconfirmation by a 2-to-1 margin.

In the case of George, 34 percent of those questioned in the Field Poll were in favor of confirmation, 16 percent were against and 50 percent were undecided. For Chin, 29 percent favored confirmation, 15 percent were against and 56 percent were undecided.

"We are very, very pleased that the results show that support is there for the chief justice," said George spokesman Peter DeMarco. "As we move into the last weeks of the campaign, we remain very confident that the chief will be retained in November."

Added Chin spokesman Tupper Hull, "When people begin to pay attention, we're confident they'll vote in overwhelming numbers to retain Justice Chin."

Supporters of the two justices argue that no judge should be removed on the basis of a single, controversial decision, and that the attempt to do so amounts to an assault on an independent judiciary.

"You cannot have a court making decisions based on single-issue politics," says DeMarco.

Brian Johnston, executive director of the California ProLife Council, says the opposition campaign is working to strengthen the link between the abortion ruling and voters' attitudes toward abortions for minors.

The Field Poll, he said, "tells us what we already know--there is a sizeable portion of the electorate that has a throw-the-bums out mentality regarding the judiciary, even without linking George and Chin to this decision."

Sen. Ray Haynes, the Republican from Riverside who is heading the party's judicial evaluation committee, says he opposes George because he's a judicial activist who "makes up rules as he goes along.

"Bad judges ought to be removed, and it is my opinion that Ron George is a bad judge."

Chin, on the other hand, is less an activist, Haynes feels, and "shows he believes in some kind of restraint."

But even Haynes is careful to distance himself from any campaign, saying his only job is to gather information about the judges and present it to the committee.

George and Chin, both considered moderate conservatives, are stressing their qualifications and overall records.

George, elevated to chief justice in 1996 after five years on the Supreme Court, has spent a good deal of time trying to make the courts more accessible and mending fences with the legislature. He is credited with winning a trial court funding plan last year, placing the burden on the state rather than counties and assuring adequate and equitable funding throughout the state.

"We're talking about a long record of accomplishment," says DeMarco.

Although he came under fire from abortion foes during his confirmation hearing, George said his judicial philosophy has "always been guided by the principle of judicial restraint in the sense of applying the law rather than imposing my personal or political views" on a case.

Chin was appointed to the high court in 1996, after stints on the superior and appellate benches. The son of Chinese immigrants, he is viewed as an open-minded justice with solid conservative credentials.

George and Chin have amassed sizeable war chests--$463,000 for George and just under $300,000 for Chin as of June 30.

Both are backed by a lengthy bipartisan list of supporters including Gov. Wilson, former Gov. George Deukmejian, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Crime Victims United of California and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.