Interesting breakdown of the ensoulment belief by religion in contrast to scientific perspective.

I was wondering when a fetus has awareness/consciousness/mind and if it is lacking in the sperm and egg prior to ensoulment. If they do not, and they are living entities, then does a zygote cell (sperm and egg cells combined into one cell) have human awareness/consciousness/mind which is different than the two cells that form it? If not different, then contraception (and male masturbation) could be considered (attempted) murder.

The answers all depend on one's mindset about abstract concepts (when human life begins) for which there can never be definitive proof unless we discover valid ways to observe and measure the ensoulment process.

So, it all depends on unsubstantiated stories we're told by scripture authors from eons ago and by scientists whose tools cannot detect the soul/ensoulment. It's all subjective belief without any universal truth.