State Rep. Ruth C. Rudy successfully tacked a pro-choice amendment onto House legislation yesterday placing sweeping restrictions on abortion.

A number of other pro-choice members in the House of Representatives attempted to water down the pro-life legislation by attaching amendments. However, almost all of the amendments were overwhelmingly rejected.

Rudy, D-Centre and Mifflin, estimated 80 amendments were proposed. All but about six of those amendments were either defeated or withdrawn from the House floor, she said.

Rudy said the amendment she proposed is an "informed consent provision" that requires abortion clinic counselors and doctors to use realistic pictures or drawings of fetuses. The pictures must contain accurate dimensions of the fetus, she said.

"I think some people use scare tactics and provide horrendous looking pictures," Rudy said. By providing only realistic pictures, she added, the counselors would not be apt to sway a pregnant woman's decision.

The abortion control legislation containing Rudy's amendment was added to a bill which came to the House after Senate approval. Rep. Stephen Freind, R-Delaware, used the bill to strengthen the chances for passage of his own anti-abortion legislation within the House.

Rep. Lynn B. Herman, R-Centre, voted in favor of the motion to tack Freind's legislation onto the Senate's bill and to pass the amended bill as Freind proposed it. Herman was unavailable for comment last night.

Freind, the self-proclaimed "point man" in the state's pro-life movement, recently proposed legislation that calls for tighter restrictions on abortions.

Rudy said all of Freind's original provisions stayed in the bill which the house passed late last night.

Included in Freind's legislation were measures that would:

-- Prohibit all abortions after the 24th week of pregnancy unless the mother's life was endangered.

-- Require 24-hour waiting periods for any woman having an abortion.

-- Require women to inform their husbands before having an abortion.

Also under Freind's original proposal, two doctors must approve an abortion before it can be performed.

Freind said he attached his anti-abortion legislation to the Senate bill in order to expedite the legislative process. The Senate's bill, which toughens existing penalties for incest, was already voted upon and passed by the state senators.

By latching onto this legislation, instead of proposing the bill on its own, Freind bypassed a senate committee vote. The amended legislation requires only Senate confirmation. If his bill had gone back to the Senate for approval, he said, it may have been bogged down in committee.

Rudy voted against both the motion to add Freind's legislation onto the Senate bill and the motion to adopt the amended bill.

Rudy said she thinks her votes were representative of the majority of her constituents.

"I don't think I would be in office, if my district was not strongly pro-choice," she said. Rudy added that she defeated a pro-life candidate in her bid for election in 1982.

The Senate will not consider this abortion legislation until they re- convene in two weeks. The senators are taking a two-week recess for November's elections.

"I think the real impact is it will be challenged in the courts," Rudy said. "I think it will go all the way to the Supreme Court."

Rep. Karen Ritter, D-Lehigh, who vehemently opposes additional restrictions on abortion, held a five-hour conference Monday night to discuss strategy with other pro-choice officials. Rudy said she did attend part of that session.

Earlier this month, the state House Judiciary Committee rushed Freind's legislation through a meeting, however it served only as a warm-up for yesterday's heated debate.

Gov. Robert P. Casey endorsed Freind's original legislation prior to its introduction. Casey, a staunch pro-life supporter, said he would have signed that legislation if it reached his desk. The governor told reporters yesterday he would not comment on an amended version of the bill until he saw it.

Since taking a high-profile spot in the state's abortion battle, Freind has been targeted by The National Abortion Rights Action League. The league said they hope to defeat Freind and eight other politicians, "the NARAL Nine," that are running for re-election next year.

Pro-choice advocates suffered a set-back last week when President Bush vetoed an appropriations bill that would have allowed victims of rape or incest to pay for abortions with Medicaid. Bush threatened to veto two additional abortion-related bills presently under consideration.