LANSING – A majority of Michigan adults back federal funding for stem cell research, a poll released Friday by the Lansing firm of EPIC-MRA showed.
Asked of 600 people if they supported or opposed expansion of federal funding for stem cell research, 55 percent said they would favor expanded funding while 24 percent opposed it. The remaining 21 percent were undecided or didn’t know.
The poll has an error rate of plus or minus 4 percentage points and was conducted Monday through Thursday.
The initial question asked only whether someone favored or opposed federal funding on “stem cell” research without differentiating between embryonic stem cells and other types of research, including adult stem cell research. The controversy over the research has been centered mostly on embryonic stem cell research.
The poll did ask a more detailed question on the issue, which brought out that many people opposed embryonic stem cell research because it destroys a potential life. After the more detailed question, the poll showed 54 percent supported the research while 28 percent opposed and 19 percent did not.
Last week, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) announced he would support legislation permitting federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, but President George W. Bush has said he would veto any bill authorizing the research coming to his desk.
Paul Long, executive director of the Michigan Catholic Conference, said he recognized the mood of the public now supports stem cell research. But he said he hoped that with education, especially about the research potential of adult stem cell research, that more people would support alternatives than what he called “unethical” stem cell research.
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