Sixty-two percent of Americans support protecting access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), a new survey found.
The survey, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found Democrats were more likely to support the procedure, with 77 percent in favor of protecting IVF. More than half of Republicans, 56 percent, said the same. Forty-one percent of independents support access to IVF.
While most Americans support others having access to the medical procedure, views on what happens to the embryos after the procedure were less developed.
The survey found that a majority of Americans don’t hold strong opinions on laws banning the destruction of embryos that are created through IVF.
One-third of all respondents strongly oppose laws that ban embryos from being destroyed. Twenty-five percent support laws that ban them from being destroyed, and 40 percent say they neither support nor oppose those laws.
Democrats were far more likely to say they do not believe life begins at conception. Seventy percent of Democrats disagree that life begins at conception, while 33 percent of Republicans say the same. Forty-one percent of Republican respondents believe life begins at conception.
The survey follows a February ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court, which forced many IVF treatments in the state to be temporarily paused. The ruling said frozen embryos are the legal equivalent of a child. Alabama’s governor signed a law protecting doctors from legal liability to conduct the procedure.
The conversation about IVF and reproductive rights has continued to be part of the larger political rhetoric tied to the 2024 elections, the second federal election and first presidential race since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The survey was conducted June 20-24 among 1,088 adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
