Science & spirit

Christian Century, Nov 14, 2001

* Nearly 80 percent of surveyed readers of Science & Spirit magazine support the use of human embryonic stem cells for research. "They are equally divided, with half unequivocally supporting the research and the other half in favor only if the donated embryos would otherwise be destroyed," editor Jennifer Derryberry said.

Three out of four of the respondents described themselves as "very" or "moderately" religious and 46 percent said they were Protestants, she said in announcing survey results on October 11 during a debate at Northwestern University on the moral implications of stem cell research. Forty-seven percent also agreed that President Bush should consider the views of world religious leaders when making any more rulings on the research. The results were based on 137 responses received to 500 surveys mailed to the magazine's readers.