Im'a member of 'the moment of conception' camp, I believe a person has been granted a human soul at the moment of conception. But at the same time, I have no qualms with stem cell research, due to the fact that an embryo can not become a viable human being without a female host. For me it would be a question of viability,(I would save the 5 year old child.)and most stem cells are harvested from embryos created via in vitro fertilization. Another way stem cells are created is through theraputic cloning, where the nucleus of a different cell is transplanted into an egg and allowed to progress as an embryo. Now since the embryo is created from a hair cell per say would it be granted a soul?? I don't know. I do know that there are only 155 stem cell lines world wide, only 78 of them are approved for federal funding and only 28 of those are suitable for research. Anywho, I personally would prefer the embryos to be donated to stem cell research, which would be for the greater good , than to be otherwise destroyed, which is what would happen to them. Either way that particular embryo will never have the opportunity to become a viable human.