Poll backs research on stem cells

A large majority of Massachusetts adults support stem-cell research using human embryos, but there is also strong opposition to the use of cloned embryos in such research, a Boston Globe poll indicates.

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Sixty-six percent of those polled said they support stem-cell research using human embryos, with just 23 percent opposed and 11 percent saying they were not sure. When asked if they would support research using embryos created in fertility clinics that would otherwise be discarded, the support rose to 77 percent, with only 14 percent opposed.

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But, in a sign of the deep uneasiness about cloning, 46 percent said they opposed stem-cell research using human embryos cloned in a laboratory, and 42 percent said they supported it. That is a statistical dead heat in the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.

Asked to balance research against moral concerns, 60 percent of those questioned said it is more important to conduct stem-cell research that might result in new medical cures than it is to protect the potential life of human embryos, while 27 percent think it is more important to protect potential life.

In another finding, 56 percent said gay marriages should be allowed by law, an increase in support since gay marriage became legal last year under a Supreme Judicial Court ruling. But those surveyed were split on a proposed ballot amendment that would ban gay marriage but allow civil unions for same-sex couples.

Support for gay marriage has increased in Massachusetts in the last year. A Globe poll in February 2004, before the SJC decision took effect, found that 53 percent of people surveyed opposed legalizing gay marriage, and 35 percent supported it. That survey also found that 71 percent of respondents wanted voters to decide whether to continue legalization or ban gay marriage.

The Globe survey of 501 Massachusetts adults was conducted by the University of New Hampshire's Survey Center between March 5 and 8.

Senate President Robert E. Travaglini has said he expects the House and Senate to vote this fall on a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage but establish civil unions. That proposed amendment has cleared the Legislature once and must pass again in order to go before voters on the November 2006 ballot.

Lawmakers later this month are expected to consider legislation backed by Travaglini that would give the state's endorsement to stem-cell research, including research on stem cells that are obtained from cloned human embryos. The bill explicitly would make it illegal to conduct human reproductive cloning -- making a baby through cloning -- but would allow researchers to clone human cells for the purpose of research.

Lawmakers expect Governor Mitt Romney to veto Travaglini's bill, and they are preparing to attempt to override a veto. The governor has argued that creating embryos that will be later destroyed is unethical. ''Once cloning occurs, a human life is set in motion," Romney wrote in a Globe column this month. The governor said he supports stem-cell research conducted on embryos from fertility clinics that are not used and would be discarded.

Some leading scientists and Travaglini say Romney is trying to block a promising avenue of research that could lead to cures for diseases such as Parkinson's. Harvard scientists have said they hope to do research on embryonic stem cells created through cloning. Antiabortion groups oppose all embryonic stem-cell research, and have complained that Romney did not also object to stem-cell research involving embryos from fertility clinics.

The Globe survey appears to bolster Travaglini's position on the issue, but also reflects Romney's concerns about embryonic cloning.

Despite considerable news coverage about stem-cell research locally and nationally, the Globe survey found that Massachusetts residents are not well informed about the issue. Just 48 percent said they have heard a lot about the issue, but 44 percent said they have heard little, and 8 percent said they know nothing at all about it. The familiarity is higher among those with higher levels of education. Lower-income and less-educated adults are less likely to have heard of the research.

Romney's position drew support from a woman who dislikes the governor's political views in general and who strongly supports abortion rights, according to an interview conducted by the Globe after the poll was taken. Nancy Zewiey, a retired federal worker from Malden, said she fully supports stem-cell research on embryos, but draws the line when it comes to cloned embryos.

''That's going too far," said Zewiey, a Democrat. ''I am against cloning of any animal cells. I think there is a certain respect for life that should exist."

Marc Kryla of Fall River, a respondent in the poll and a registered independent, said he thinks it makes no difference how or for what reason the embryo is created. ''If it's an embryo that is basically not being used, if it's donated or created for research to further medical research, I don't have an issue with that," said Kryla, a 40-year-old behavioral development specialist for the state Department of Mental Retardation. ''I don't see that as ending life."

Romney's motives for trying to block embryonic stem-cell research have been interpreted by his critics as an attempt to appeal to the social conservatives in the national Republican Party as he lays plans for a possible presidential campaign. His aides say the governor is merely responding to the fast-changing developments in stem-cell research.

On another controversial social issue, gay marriage, support appears to be growing, but there is still considerable opposition.

Despite the 56 percent support of gay marriage, most of those surveyed want the issue settled by voters. A majority -- 54 percent -- wanted the proposed amendment to ban gay marriage on the 2006 state ballot. Forty-one percent said it should not be on the ballot and 5 percent expressed no opinion.

Asked how they would vote on the amendment, the respondents were evenly split, with 45 percent saying they would oppose it and 45 percent saying the would support it, and 10 percent expressing no opinion.

Andrew E. Smith, the UNH center's director, said last week that the contradictions in the most recent gay marriage findings most likely reflect a desire of some people to appear publicly to support same-sex marriage, while still having some qualms about supporting it in the privacy of the voting booth.

Smith also noted that people appear more comfortable when the voters -- not the courts -- make a decision that has a far-reaching impact on society. ''It's much easier to live with it, if it comes out of a vote," Smith said.

Typical of that position is Wesley R. Eldridge, an independent voter from Whitinsville and a respondent in the poll. He said he thinks gay marriage should be legal in Massachusetts, but that the final decision should be decided at the ballot box when every voter in the state can participate in the debate.

''I think it should be legal, but I would leave it to the voters," said Eldridge, 43, an unemployed general laborer. ''I want the people most affected to make those decisions."

Support for gay marriage comes primarily from Democrats, those under 35 years of age, people with post-graduate educations, and those with no religious affiliation. Republicans are more likely to oppose gay marriage. Protestants were split on the issue, and Catholics opposed legalized gay marriage by 49-44 percent, within the margin of error.

Smith said that the strong support from the 18-to-34-year-old age group shows that controversy over gay marriage will fade as older people who tend to oppose gay marriage begin to die.

A year ago, the debate over whether gay marriage should be legal riveted Beacon Hill and drew international attention as lawmakers wrestled with the issue. Legislators, struggling to find a consensus on how to respond to the November 2003 Supreme Judicial Court ruling legalizing gay marriage, approved by a four-vote margin the constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages but establish a civil-unions for gays and lesbians.

But after gay marriage became legal last May 17, the issue has sharply receded in Massachusetts political debates. Romney even held off making it an issue in his attempts to unseat Democratic legislators in last fall's elections. Only 2 percent of those polled said it is one of the most important issues facing the state.