Is stem cell research unethical?

Stem Cell research itself is not unethical, the issue is the source of the stemcells. If we are murdering babies to get stem-cells, then the murder of babies is unethical. But the research is about saving lives, as long as we are acquiring the cells ethically, I say go for it.

It is used to better the lives as a whole.

So many confused topics on here... research is not inherently unethical in and of itself. It's how they get the resources to do it and what they do with it in the end... and I don't mean abortions (which are none of our business and we should not judge for them), but also they steal blood from the newborn babies for this, which then causes internal bleeding in the kids brains (mitigated by vitamin K which they give at birth) and other developmental issues. And they will refuse to let you keep the placenta in some places, possibly for the same reason. Some say it's for stem cell research. Some say it's for other commercial purposes. And they claim it's for tests if you ask. (But you might be fine [depending on where you are] if you insist that you are the one that cuts the cord, and that the clamp only goes on after the pulsing stops.)