Why all the hoopla with Stem Cell Research?

With the election of Barack Obama, stem cells are once more in the gun sights of the religious right. The Catholic church has voiced its opposition to embryonic stem cells. The way this has been talked about you would think that mass murder was being committed by scientists. 

In 2001 President Bush signed a decree that prevented federal funds from being used in embryonic stem cell research. He allowed for lines that had been created before his speech to be used and eligible for funding. Most of the research on embryonic stem cells in the US has been done with private money and funding from a few states. (New Jersey is one) 

What is the difference between the two and why is one okay while the other is not?

I will give definitions of each and you can draw your conclusions.

Adult Stem Cells. Those can be from fetuses or adults and are specific. They can be cells from the heart or other organs and can be grown to find cures for specific ailments in those organs.

Embryonic stem cells: These are usually created in a test tube. A perfect example is what happens at a fertility clinic. A lady has her eggs fertilized and the excess is either destroyed or frozen for future use. Those 4 or 5 day fertilized eggs are taken and put in a culture and fed and if the divide and divide again and again you have your embryonic stem cell and lines. An embryonic stem cell is something created in a test tube.

So far there have been no cures found from embryonic stem cells. Scientist claim that inadequate funding is responsible. Religious claim that it is impossible to find one with such stem cells.

The way the argument had gone made me think that people were being forced to abort fetuses to generate embryonic stem cells. That is not true. 

Only 4 or 5 day old fertilized eggs are used.

What are your thoughts on this subject?