Poll: Public responds to Bush stem cell decision

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Six in 10 Americans now approve of President Bush's decision on stem cell research, which he announced last Thursday in a prime-time speech, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.

About a third of the public disapproves, with most of that opposition coming from people who think his restrictions on stem cell research did not go far enough.

The new poll consisted of questions posed to 1,017 adult Americans from August 10-12, 2001, and has a sampling error of +/- 3 percent.

Immediately after Bush's speech on Thursday night, pollsters found that a quarter of Americans were unsure how they felt about the president's policy. As details became better known, support and opposition grew at roughly the same pace. Bush's decision on stem cell research has not noticeably affected his approval rating, currently at 57 percent.

Attitudes toward the president as a person also have remained unchanged, with a majority saying Bush is sincere, keeps his promises, and shares their values. Still, most Americans say that his decision on stem cell research was made for political reasons; just 36 percent say it was based on his deeply held beliefs.

The president's speech may have pushed stem cell research to a front-and-center position in the public's mind. Nearly eight in 10 Americans now say the issue is important to them, a 16-point gain in just a single week.

Yet the public seems conflicted over stem cell research. Nearly half say that research that uses embryos which fertility clinics would otherwise discard is morally wrong. Three-quarters also believe that such research may be necessary.

The president spent much of his speech going back and forth on the issue of whether those embryos should be given the same treatment as fully formed humans. How does the public stand on that controversy? Six in 10 say, to use words from Bush's speech, that the embryo "has the potential for life, but is not the same as life, because it cannot develop on its own."

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL
August 10-12

QUESTION: As you may know, President Bush gave a speech Thursday night on stem cell research, and he announced that he would allow the government to fund research using stem cells that have been created in the past in a process that destroyed human embryos. The government will not fund stem cell research that would destroy additional embryos in the future. Overall, do you approve or disapprove of Bush's decision on stem cell research?

QUESTION: If you disapprove, do you disapprove because the ban is too strict or not strict enough?

QUESTION: Do you think President Bush made his decision on stem cell research mostly because of political reasons or mostly because of his deeply held beliefs?

QUESTION: Thinking about embryos that have been created in a laboratory by fertilizing a woman's egg outside the womb and have not been implanted in a woman's womb, which comes closer to your view about this type of embryo -- the embryo is a human life that should be given the same protection as all other human lives, or the embryo has the potential for life, but is not the same as a life, because it cannot develop on its own?

QUESTION: Now I would like to ask about a specific type of research on stem cells developed from human embryos that have been created outside a woman's womb. This kind of stem cell research destroys the embryos but may help find treatments for major diseases. As you may know, fertility clinics increase a woman's chance to have a child by fertilizing several embryos, but only a few are implanted in her womb to enable her to have a baby. Some stem cells are developed from the remaining embryos that the fertility clinics usually discard. Which comes closest to your view of this kind of stem cell research -- it is morally wrong and is unnecessary, it is morally wrong, but may be necessary, it is not morally wrong and may be necessary, or it is not morally wrong but is unnecessary?

QUESTION: How important is the issue of stem cell research to you -- very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important?

QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

QUESTION: Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether you think it applies or doesn't apply to George W. Bush. (A) Shares your values (B) Is a strong and decisive leader (C) Keeps his promises (D) Is sincere in what he says.

QUESTION: Do you think George W. Bush's political views are too conservative, about right, or too liberal?

QUESTION: In your opinion, is George W. Bush a new kind of Republican, or is he basically the same as Republicans of the past?