麻豆传媒

An international poll has shown there鈥檚 a wide range of opinion about when human life 鈥渂egins鈥� biologically.

The results foreshadow voting on a controversial constitutional amendment next week in Colorado to confer legal rights on embryos at the point of fertilisation.

A 鈥測es鈥� vote could make it easier to outlaw abortion in that state, and encourage similar amendments to be tabled elsewhere in the US.

But in the international poll, only 22.7% of voters selected fertilisation as the point when human life begins. Detection of fetal heartbeat came highest, polling 23.5% of the 650 or so votes. Implantation of the embryo in the womb lining came third, with 15%.

Respondents were given a dozen possible tick-box answers, and and asked to tick the one they agreed with.

鈥楴o right or wrong鈥�

鈥淲e can鈥檛 tell [Colorado] voters the right or wrong answer, because our results suggest there isn鈥檛 one,鈥� says Jaclyn Friedman of , the IVF clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, which commissioned the poll.

Friedman also stresses that the poll question asked respondents when human life began in a biological sense of being an original entity.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 ask when it鈥檚 a person,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a distinction between when a group of cells is considered living, and when it deserves human rights, and that鈥檚 what comes into play with this amendment.鈥�

The amendment proposes not only that fertilisation is when human life begins, but also that this is when someone becomes a person, deserving the same legal rights and protection under the American Constitution as any baby, child or adult citizen.

Varied views

鈥淧eople might say this or that is when life begins, but it doesn鈥檛 necessarily confer legal rights on that entity,鈥� says Thomas Elliott of Reproductive Biology Associates, who will present the full results of the poll next week in San Francisco at the Annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

The poll also demonstrates the wide religious and geographic spread of opinion on when biological life begins.

Not surprisingly, Roman Catholics had the highest proportion voting for 鈥渟perm-egg鈥� fusion, around 31%. By contrast, a third of Jewish respondents, 29% of agnostics and 27% of Muslims opted for fetal heartbeat. So too did 38% of IVF patients.

Geographically, only 13% of UK respondents opted for 鈥渟perm-fusion鈥�, with 43% choosing 鈥渇etal heartbeat鈥�. In complete contrast, 47% of Australasians voted for 鈥渟perm-egg鈥� and a tiny 7% for 鈥渇etal heartbeat鈥�.

The spread in North America was more even, with 27% choosing 鈥渟perm-egg鈥�, 24% 鈥渇etal heartbeat鈥� and 18% 鈥渋mplantation鈥�.