A story published today by Australian
Associated Press reports that Prime Minister John Howard's move to restrict in-vitro
fertilization treatment to heterosexual couples has failed to win majority community
support.
But it has exposed community division on the right for single women
- particularly lesbians - to IVF treatment.
As the Liberal Party Caucus today faces a minority push for a
conscience vote on the issue, a Herald-ACNielson poll shows 47 per cent of Australians
oppose a ban on single women having access to IVF, while 42 per cent support such a ban.
For lesbians, however, 47 per cent support a ban while 44 per cent
are opposed.
The poll, published in The Sydney Morning Herald today, shows that
while women were split 46-46 on whether lesbians should have access, men more strongly
supported a ban, 49-41 per cent.
The federal government is expected to introduce legislation this
week amending the Sex Discrimination Act to ensure that states are not prevented from
legislating to restrict treatments, including IVF and artificial insemination, to
heterosexual couples.
