Antiabortion forces may be losing steam

Those who helped defeat an antiabortion constitutional amendment say the ''pro-life'' movement has crested. The winners now have set their sights on restoring federal funding for the poor who want abortions.

The Senate voted 50-49 Tuesday - far short of the necessary two-thirds majority -against the proposed amendment that would have reversed the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion and turned the matter back to the states.

But the opponents were not yielding quickly. The American Life Lobby called for support of a bill that would permanently ban federal funding or federal insurance coverage of abortion.