Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed legislation creating a new center at the state’s medical school for researching potential cures using adult stem cells.

The bill signed into law Monday by Brownback prohibits the new center at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City from using money or resources on research with embryonic stem cells.

Instead, the aim is to make Kansas a leader in research with adult stem cells and stem cells from babies’ umbilical cord blood.

Abortion opponents strongly supported the bill and see such research as far more promising than research with embryonic stem cells. But Brownback also was flanked by patients as he signed the measure.

Critics question whether the new center will divert resources from other Medical Center programs.