Polls show Ambiguous Public Opinions on Stem Cell Research

The issuing of the embryonic stem cell research license by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in Britain has rung alarm bells across the whole of Europe. The debate on the topic has also been heated up on to an international dimension.

While most scientists stress the importance of stem cell research on medical grounds, pro-life groups and a majority of Christians have condemned it as a threat to the dignity of human life. In the midst of all these voices, various polls carried out in America have revealed that public opinion is divided and unclear.

The Harris Poll reported that 73 percent of Americans say embryonic stem cell research should be permitted, while only 11 percent opposed it. That marked a 12 percent increase in support of embryonic research from a Harris poll taken in 2001.

However, another survey carried out by Wilson Research Strategies, as commissioned by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), found that 53 percent of adults oppose government funding of stem cell research that destroys human embryos. Meanwhile, 74 percent favour government funds for stem cell experimentation that does not kill human embryos, and 20 percent opposed it.

A great contradiction is observed between the two surveys which were announced in the same week- between 18th-24th August.

To explain such phenomena, the Pro-life Secretariat of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Richard Doerflinger, directly blamed the information provided and said that the way in which questions were asked by pollsters was misleading.

The following is the question that the Harris Poll presented in its online survey of more than 2,200 adults:
“Stem cells come from embryos left over from in vitro fertilisation, which are not used and normally destroyed. Many medical researchers want to use them to develop treatments, or to prevent diseases, such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. On balance, do you think this research should or should not be allowed?”

In an interview with Lifenews.com, Doerflinger commented, “It simply ignores the current issue, which is whether federal funds should be used to encourage the killing of human embryos to make new stem cell lines...Instead it asks whether stem cell research should be ‘allowed’ and refuses to mention the central fact that it means destroying embryos.”

The Harris survey also fails to mention the fact that stem cells are extracted from embryos other than those left over in fertility clinics.

“Yet this fact is essential to understanding the moral issue,” Doerflinger said to Zenit.org, “Some polls also make exaggerated claims about the [hypothetical] medical benefits of embryonic cells, while ignoring the documented benefits of alternative research that poses no moral problem.”

Embryonic stem cell research involves the creation of an embryo with desired DNA, the stem cell then grows in the embryo and will then be harvested for developing human tissues to cure some diseases. As a result, the embryo is forced to be destroyed by such research as the extracting stem cell is fatal.

USCCB itself has also conducted a survey. 47 percent of adults said they favoured federal funds for stem cell research that destroys human embryos, while 43 were opposed. In a question about which research method they would prefer their taxes to fund, 61 percent chose research using stem cells from adults and other sources that is not harmful, while 23 percent chose experiments using all methods, including those that destroy embryos. This result appears similar to the one commission by the NRLC.