SEATTLE -- President Barack Obama's new executive order which frees up taxpayer money for research on embryonic stem cells has proven to be a divisive issue for local residents.

The president on Monday said he is allowing federal taxpayer dollars to fund significantly broader research on embryonic stem cells because "medical miracles do not happen simply by accident," and promised his administration would make up for the ground lost under his predecessor.

The executive order reverses the Bush administration's ban on using federal funds to create new embryonic stem cell lines.

"Rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said.

The announcement was cause for celebration for some local researchers, while others were fuming with anger.

"It's been painful these past eight years, you know, not being able to do what you knew as a scientist should be done to get the answers you needed to move forward," said Beverly Torok-Storb, Ph.D. of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Researchers say embryonic stem cells are so valuable because they can morph into any one of the more than 200 cells that make up the human bodies. In a University of Washington lab, scientists treat these embryonic cells to produce what's essentially a beating human heart muscle.

"I think we can get at the root cause of why people get heart failure, instead of just dancing around the periphery, trying to manage a patient's symptoms," said Dr. Chuck Murry.

Down the hall, other UW researchers study stem cells for the retina to help restore vision. In another lab, stem cells are used to study the spinal cord.

But not everyone is applauding the executive order. Pastor Joe Fuiten of Cedar Park Assembly of God says you cannot create moral good by creating moral evil.

"To destroy a human being at this early stage of development - you know, a teenager, a child, an embryo - are just stages for human development. And it really harms human life in America by this executive order," he said.

So the president's order doesn't end the moral debate. But it should put millions of federal dollars into labs across the country.

And while the president's order opens the door for researchers to expand their work with taxpayer dollars, it does not give them carte blanche.

A legislative ban still in effect prevents federal funds from being used to create new embryonic stem cell lines.