Missouri Embryonic Stem Cell Research Amendment Losing Support 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 25, 2006
Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) — A new poll shows that support for Amendment 2, the Missouri measure that would have the state support human cloning and embryonic stem cell research, is dropping fast. The level of support has dropped from more than a 2-1 margin to less than 10 percent.
According to a new Survey USA poll released Tuesday, just 45 percent of Missouri voters say they plan to vote for Amendment 2 while 36 percent will vote against it and another 18 percent are undecided.
That’s a huge difference from the last survey the polling firm did just two weeks ago.
On October 12, Survey USA had Amendment 2 ahead by a 57-27 percent margin with 16 percent undecided.
No publicly released poll by any nationally recognized polling firm has ever had support for Amendment 2 below 52%, and it has been as high as 64% in favor in a January 2006 Research 2000 poll conducted for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV, and a similar 62% in favor in a June 2006 Research 2000 poll.
The new results show that pro-life advocates have a chance to knock off what many worry would be a harbinger of things to come across the nation as other states look to replicate Missouri’s support for the grisly practices.
The latest poll found men favoring the human cloning initiative by a 45-39 percent margin and women backing it 46-34.
Missouri residents in the 35-49 age category oppose it while other age-ranges favored the initiative, but the poll is the first to show any age category opposing the measure.
The poll also finds white and black residents split along the same lines, Republicans slightly opposing it while Democrats more strongly favor the measure, and supporters of pro-life Sen. Jim Talent oppose the human cloning proposal while backers of pro-abortion candidate Claire McCaskill favor it.
Missourians in the central part of the state oppose the measure while Ozark residents are split and Kansas City and St. Louis residents slightly favor it.
The results of the survey show that a new ad by actor Michael J. Fox that misrepresents Senator Talent’s position on stem cell research is having an effect on the numbers.
Support for Amendment 2 was 42-37 percent on the day the ad started but by the third day of the poll, it had risen to 50-34 percent. That means pro-life advocates had done a good job of cutting the lead and must redouble their efforts to combat the effects of the new ad.
Related web sites:
Missourians Against Human Cloning – https://www.nocloning.org
