Support for Stem Cell Research Increases
Wednesday August 25, 2004
Stem cell research is becoming more and more of an important issue. It holds out a lot of promise for the treatment and even cure of some of our most intractable diseases. Unfortunately, the Christian Right wants to severely restrict the research - and George W. Bush has made himself the candidate of the Christian Right.
According to Yahoo, the 3-to-1 majority favoring stem cell research from 2001 has expanded now to a 6-to-1 majority:
As Democrats looked for issues where large majorities of the public support their positions and oppose those of President Bush, stem cell research must have caught their attention. In this new survey, the big majorities of the public who support their position on stem cell research must look very attractive. Furthermore, big majorities of Republicans and Independents, not just Democrats, support stem cell research.
This majority support for stem cell research includes almost all Democrats with opinions (80% to 5%) and Independents (83% to 7%) and a large, if smaller, majority of Republicans (60% to 18%). Those who believe that "using stem cells from human embryos for research comes too close to allowing scientists play God" have fallen sharply from 40% in 2001 to only 19% now. Those who believe that "allowing any medical research using stem cells from human embryos should be forbidden because it is unethical and immoral" have also fallen sharply from 32% to 15% over the last three years.
Bush doesn’t oppose all stem cell research, but he has worked to limit it in a way that renders it impossible for all practical intents and purposes. The “embryonic stem cell lines“ he approved using are not as numerous or as good as he advertised. The Democrats can readily use this in the upcoming elections. The Republicans have hitched their wagon to a religious movement that is thoroughly anti-modernist and anti-science in both belief and practice. This can hurt them.
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