Georgia's governor will veto a 'religious liberty' bill that spurred a corporate backlash

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal announced Monday morning that he would veto a "religious liberty" bill that critics said would open the door to anti-gay discrimination, ABC reports.

The bill - which underwent months of debate and revisions before it was passed earlier this month - would have let faith-based organizations deny social, educational, and charitable services based on a "sincerely held religious belief" relating to marriage.

The law would have also let faith-based organizations cite religious beliefs when making employment decisions. The bill defines faith-based organizations as churches, religious schools, and mission groups, but critics feared the broad language of the bill could have covered businesses, hospitals, adoption centers, and homeless shelters as well.

Business leaders across the state warned of the potential financial impact the bill could have, with some studies pinning losses as high as $2 billion.

Fears of corporate backlash were largely realized. Salesforce, AMC, Marvel, and Disney, among others, condemned the bill and threatened to reduce their business in the state if it passed. Over 500 businesses, including Google, IBM, Twitter, and Turner, joined a campaign to promote principles of nondiscrimination in the state.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff even went as far as tweeting, "One again Georgia is trying to pass laws that make it legal to discriminate. When will this insanity end?"

The Republican-backed legislation was passed by the Georgia House of Representatives on the afternoon of March 16, and quickly passed through the Senate just hours later. Both votes fell along party lines.

Republican State Sen. Greg Kirk, one of the architects of the bill, cited last year's Supreme Court decision to grant same-sex couples the right to marriage as the motivation for the bill.

"When the Supreme Court changed the definition of marriage, there was a need for this law," Kirk said on the Senate floor. "And it took Georgia to lead the way for the rest of the country to put this law together."

However, a number of Democratic lawmakers urged the Senate to reconsider.

"The Supreme Court has decided that marriage is a fundamental right, and we're debating infringing on that fundamental right," Democratic State Sen. Harold Jones said. "We're not debating about your point of view or my point of view. We're having a debate about what the Supreme Court of this country has said is a fundamental right."

Read the full bill below: