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A Second Look at Gallup's
Numbers on Abortion, Assisted-Suicide, and Embryonic Stem Cell
Research Part Three of Five By Dave Andrusko Our favorite bioethicist at NRLC is Wesley J. Smith, which is one reason I pass along some of his always provocative blog postings. (There's one today over at www.nationalrighttolifenews.org.) Today on his blog, Wesley referred back to a Gallup poll, posted in May, that analyzed "Perceived Moral Acceptability of Behaviors and Social Policies"--a.k.a. controversial social issues. I wrote about it at the time, but it merits a second look. [The results came from Gallup's annual "Values and Beliefs survey," conducted May 3-6, 2010. The analysis was posted May 26.] So what can we learn about the public's take on "abortion" (the respondent is not alerted that abortion is essentially legal throughout pregnancy); "doctor-assisted suicide" (the addition of the word "doctor" skews the approval numbers upwards); and "medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos" ("medical research" suggests something "good")? Well, for starters, we can say that the responses are predisposed towards the "morally acceptable" side. The way the questions probe the respondents' attitude is by first establishing that "Whether or not you think it should be legal," the question is, "Whether you personally believe that in general it is morally acceptable or morally wrong," followed by the particular issue. ABORTION As of May 3-6, 2010, 50% said it was morally wrong compared to 38% who said abortion was morally acceptable. If we went all the way back to May 2001, acceptable/wrong were nearly equal: 42% said abortion was morally acceptable and 45% said it was morally wrong. DOCTOR ASSISTED SUICIDE For 2010 the numbers were exactly even--46% to 46%. That is a real improvement, however. In 2009 51% said it was morally acceptable versus 44% who told Gallup it was morally wrong. In 2001 49% said it was morally acceptable to only 40% who said doctor assisted suicide was morally wrong. Good news. MEDICAL RESEARCH USING STEM CELLS OBTAINED FROM HUMAN EMBRYOS In 2010 59% found this morally acceptable to 32% who told Gallup it was morally wrong. Using 2002 (rather than 2001) as a base, 59% said it was acceptable, but 39% said was wrong. This means that 6% moved from unacceptable to "no opinion." (One percent said it was "not a moral issue.") But it is also true that in 2007, 64% said this was morally acceptable compared to 30% who said taking stem cells from human embryos for "medical research" was morally wrong. We've written about this many times before, but it is more and more true that positions on these issues match up with where people identify politically. More than anything else, this probably means that the electorate understands, for example, that by and large, Democrats are the party of unlimited abortion and Republicans are the pro-life party. So, with respect to our three issues, what % of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans believe these behavior are morally acceptable? ABORTION: DOCTOR ASSISTED
SUICIDE: MEDICAL RESEARCH USING
STEM CELLS OBTAINED FROM HUMAN EMBRYOS As I wrote back in May, "I have no great conclusion on this other than that the state of public opinion is in real flux and is heavily influenced by stories in the media. We know there have a steady stream of stories touting "successes" that have supposedly used embryonic stem cells (they haven't). Yet most people probably also have in the back of their minds an inkling that, in fact, actual, proven success has come from ethically acceptable adult stem cell sources. Thus the periodic changes." I would add that since May, there has been a steady trickle of stories quietly making the case that the way you tackle medical problems is not with embryonic stem cells but with adult stem cells. By widening the aperture through which people see the debate, these stories, we can hope, will change popular opinion. You can read the overall summary written by Lydia Saad at http://www.gallup.com/poll/137357/Four-Moral-Issues-Sharply-Divide-Americans.aspx. Please send all of your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are now following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha. |