TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback signed legislation Monday aimed at making Kansas the national leader in treatments using adult stem cells and umbilical cord blood by requiring the state’s medical school to establish a new research center.

The new Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center to be set up at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City is the brainchild of anti-abortion legislators and has the strong backing of other abortion opponents. The new law, taking effect in July, will prohibit the center from using its funds or facilities for research with embryonic stem cells or cells from fetal tissue.