director, Sarah Warbelow, said the federal law was designed to ensure religious minorities were protected from laws passed by the federal government that might not have been intended to discriminate but had that effect.

The Indiana law, she said, allows individuals to invoke government action even when the government is not a party to a lawsuit. It also allows all businesses to assert religious beliefs regardless of whether they are actually religious organizations.

She said one of the best ways to fix the law would be to add language that explicitly says it cannot be used to undermine civil-rights laws.

Democratic House Minority Leader Scott Pelath said Republican legislators fail to admit the law is a mistake.

"They're not facing up to reality — this is a national embarrassment," Pelath said. "Thebush needs to be pulled up by its roots and thrown into the fire."

Indiana University law professor Deborah Widiss said the Indiana backlash is being fueled by the legalization of gay marriage and last year's Supreme Court ruling in a case that found Hobby Lobby and other closely held private businesses with religious objections could opt out of providing the free contraceptive coverage required by the Affordable Care Act.

Indiana's lack of a law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is also a contributor, she said.

Long and Bosma did not appear eager to add such protection into the measure, noting that it is a big policy decision and that only four weeks remain in this year's legislative session.

Meanwhile, the fallout continued. The public-employee union known as