WASHINGTON (AP) — Relatively few Americans support the idea that a fertilized egg should have the same rights as a pregnant woman. But a significant share of Americans say it describes their views at least somewhat well, according to a fresh poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The fresh poll comes at a time when questions around access to reproductive health are mounting amid the ongoing fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down federal abortion protections. The poll found that a solid majority of Americans oppose a federal abortion ban, while a growing number support access to abortion for any reason.
But anti-abortion activists are increasingly pushing for more comprehensive measures that would give rights and protections to embryos and fetuses, which could have massive implications for fertility treatments and other areas of health care.
The poll suggests that when asked more nuanced questions about issues such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) — which may be affected by the restrictive climate in some states despite not previously being considered “abortion” — there is general support for protecting reproductive health. But the poll also shows some uncertainty as Americans face situations that would not have arisen before the Roe v. Wade ruling was overturned.
According to the survey, about 6 in 10 adults in the United States support protecting access to IVF, a fertility treatment that involves combining eggs and sperm outside the body in a laboratory to create an embryo. Views on banning the destruction of embryos created through IVF are less pronounced, with 4 in 10 adults expressing a neutral opinion.
“I believe it is a woman’s right to choose what she wants to do during her pregnancy and that she should be taken care of. There should be no question about that,” said 73-year-old John Evangelista. “And IVF has saved a lot of people grief for years – because they want to have a child. Why would you want to restrict that for people?”
Earlier this year, Alabama’s largest hospital suspended in vitro fertilization treatments after a court ruled that frozen embryos were legally equivalent to children. Shortly thereafter, the governor signed a law protecting doctors from potential legal liability in order to resume the treatments in the state.
But the political damage was done. Democrats regularly point to concerns about IVF as part of a larger problem, namely that women in some states have received worse health care since Roe was overturned. They link the delayed IVF treatment to cases in states with abortion restrictions where women must wait until they are very unwell to receive treatment. Democrats say these problems show how Republican efforts to overturn Roe have profoundly affected all facets of reproductive care.
On the other hand, protecting IVF is supported by Americans across the political spectrum: About three-quarters of Democrats and 56% of (*10*) support preserving access to IVF, while about 4 in 10 independents support it and just under half (46%) are neither for nor against protecting access. For some, views are shaped by personal experience with the procedure.
“I’m about to go through IVF treatment and you try to get as many embryos as possible so you have a better chance of a live birth, or even more if you’re lucky,” says Alexa Voloscenko, 30. “I just don’t want it to be any harder for people to get IVF treatment; it’s already hard enough.”
However, the poll found that about three in 10 Americans say the statement “Human life begins at conception, therefore a fertilized egg is a person with the same rights as a pregnant woman” describes their views on abortion laws and policy extremely or very well, while another 18 percent say the statement describes their views somewhat well. About half say the statement describes their views “not very well” or “not at all well.”
This view is at odds with some aspects of IVF treatment – particularly fertility treatments, in which eggs are fertilized and develop into embryos in the laboratory. Sometimes embryos are accidentally damaged or destroyed, and unused embryos may be discarded.
(*10*) are about twice as likely as Democrats or independents to say that the statement that fertilized eggs have the same rights as a pregnant woman describes their views extremely or very well. About 4 in 10 (*10*) say this, compared to about 2 in 10 Democrats and independents.
And overall, views are less clear when it comes to a more specific aspect of IVF policy: banning the destruction of embryos created during the process. A quarter of U.S. adults somewhat or strongly support a ban on the destruction of embryos created through IVF, while 4 in 10 are neutral and about a third are somewhat or strongly opposed.
“Human life begins with a heartbeat,” said Steven Otey, 73, a Republican who does not believe created embryos should be destroyed. (*6*)
About three in ten (*10*) and about a quarter of Democrats support a ban on the destruction of embryos created through artificial insemination. Four in ten (*10*) – and nearly six in ten independents – have a neutral stance.
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The survey of 1,088 adults was conducted June 20-24, 2024. The sample came from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The sampling margin of error is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points for all respondents.
