Arkansas Governor won't sign religious freedom bill as written

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Wednesday announced he would not sign the religious freedom bill passed by the state legislature because it did not include adequate protections against discrimination.

"The bill that is on my desk at the present time does not precisely mirror the federal law," he said.

Unlike the federal law and most state-level iterations around the country, the Arkansas bill would not require the government to be a party in litigation over alleged encroachments on religious freedom. As a result, critics fear it could be used by people and businesses to discriminate against gays — for instance, a bakery could theoretically refuse to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. So saying the legislation had "divided families," Hutchinson said he asked the legislature to recall the bill and tweak it to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

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Responding to fierce criticism over his state's recently enacted religious freedom law, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) on Tuesday announced he would push for a similar "fix" to bar discrimination.