New Poll Finds Only 18% of British Adults in Support of "3-Person IVF"
A newly released ComRes study conducted by the charity CARE has found that only 18% of British adults support “the creation of 3-parent children via genetic modification.”
The poll concerns the currently illegal technique, variously known as “3-person IVF” or more euphemistically as “mitochondrial donation,” which could move into UK fertility clinics shortly following an upcoming Parliamentary vote.
The technique involves the combination of one woman’s nuclear DNA with another woman’s mitochondrial DNA in the creation of a new child, with the hope of avoiding the transmission of mitochondrial disorders from an intending mother. It is currently illegal in the UK and several dozen other countries because it results in the modification of the genetic code passed down through the generations, something also explicitly prohibited in The Council of Europe’s Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.
Contrary to the protestations of advocates of the procedure — including the HFEA — total support for changing the law to allow use of the technique is even less than the number who “strongly oppose” the move (23%), let alone the total opposition (46%). Only 5% “strongly support” the move, while just over a third of respondents answered “don’t know.”
A US FDA committee considered the safety and efficacy of the technique in February and concluded that significantly more animal and embryonic research is needed before human clinical trials should be considered. When the participants in the latest poll learned that scientists around the world “have expressed concerns about the safety of the procedures for the children conceived” 42% were even less likely to support the change in UK law.
Furthermore, a full 65% agreed that the UK Government “should delay the introduction of 3-parent children until the surrounding medical, safety, and ethical issues can be better dealt with.”
The degree of public support on this issue has long been controversial. Indeed, a similar poll conducted by ComRes in February showed a much closer split (women opposed the procedure 36–31 but men supported it 40–31). That one, however, included slightly different wording, and did ask for reactions to the suggestion that “the procedure might help reduce the conception of children with some hereditary diseases,” which on balance made it significantly more likely that respondents would support a change in the law. It is clear that when dealing with powerful new biotechnologies, “wording effect” is a very significant factor.
It is also certain that there is a substantial reluctance among the British public to rush into such a major change. By 44–11 percent, the public thinks the government is “in a hurry” and not “making patient safety its first priority.” It’s also a vote-loser: Pushing on would make 44% of respondents less likely to vote for the government, and only 6% more likely. That’s the least of the reasons to suspend this process, but it just might be the most crucial.
Previously on Biopolitical Times: