Whether the legal rights enjoyed by citizens in the state of Colorado should extend to embryos from the point of fertilisation will be on 4 November. A 鈥測es鈥� decision could pave the way for anti-abortion legislation. But an online poll of people with a range of nationalities and religions shows opinion varies widely on the age-old question of when life begins.
The was part of a questionnaire compiled by the IVF clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, to see how people might view new reproductive technologies.
The Colorado ballot will ask voters whether they think an embryo becomes a person when the sperm and egg fuse. Of the 643 poll respondents, just 22.7 per cent believe this is when life begins. The most popular answer was 鈥渨hen the fetal heartbeat becomes detectable鈥�, garnering 23.5 per cent of answers, while 鈥渨hen the embryo attaches to the womb lining鈥� got 15 per cent.
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鈥淚t demonstrates that this question doesn鈥檛 have a right or wrong answer,鈥� says Jackie Friedman of Reproductive Biology Associates, which will present at the annual meeting of the in San Francisco next week.
Unsurprisingly, among Roman Catholics sperm-egg fusion won. In contrast, Jews, agnostics, atheists, Muslims and IVF recipients gave fetal heartbeat the most votes. In North America, 27 per cent chose sperm-egg fusion, 24 per cent heartbeat detection and 18 per cent womb attachment.
