Comparative Analysis of Religion and The Public Ethics of Stem-Cell Research: Community-Based Research

We examined international public opinion towards stem-cell research during the period when the issue was at its most contentious. We draw upon representative sample surveys in Europe and North America, fielded in 2015 and find that most people in Europe, Canada and the United States supported stem-cell research, providing it was tightly regulated, but that there were key differences between the geographical regions in the relative importance of different types of ethical position. In the U.S., moral acceptability was more influential as a driver of support for stem-cell research; in Europe the perceived benefit to society carried more weight; and in Canada the two were almost equally important. We also find that public opinion on stem-cell research was more strongly associated with religious convictions in the U.S. than in Canada and Europe, although many strongly religious citizens in all regions approved of stem-cell research. We conclude that if anything, public opinion or ‘public ethics are likely to play an increasingly important role in framing policy and regulatory regimes for sensitive technologies in the future.本研究聚焦于干细胞研究（stem-cell research）争议最为激烈的阶段，考察了全球公众对该领域研究的态度。我们依托2015年在欧洲与北美开展的代表性抽样调查数据展开分析，结果显示：欧洲、加拿大及美国的多数民众在研究受到严格监管的前提下，均支持干细胞研究，但不同地理区域在不同伦理立场的相对重要性上存在显著差异。在美国，道德可接受性是推动民众支持干细胞研究的核心影响因素；在欧洲，公众对研究社会收益的感知更具权重；而在加拿大，二者的重要性几乎持平。此外，相较于加拿大与欧洲地区，美国民众对干细胞研究的态度与宗教信仰的关联性更强，尽管所有区域内均有大量虔诚信徒支持干细胞研究。本研究最终得出结论：事实上，未来公众舆论或“公共伦理”在为敏感技术制定政策与监管制度的过程中，或将发挥愈发重要的作用。