In the wake of intense backlash against a similar law in Indiana, first-term Republican governor had rejected the first version Arkansas lawmakers had sent to his desk, instead asking for two tweaks so there would be no daylight between his state's law and the one President Bill Clinton signed in 1993.

"I think it's sending the right signal, the way this has been resolved, to the world and the country that Arkansas understands the diversity of our culture and workforce but also the importance of balancing that with our sincerely held religious convictions," Hutchinson said Thursday afternoon.

READ: Who is Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson?

Hutchinson's decision to sign the law follows an uproar in Indiana, where Gov. Mike Pence has faced pressure from businesses, sports associations like the NCAA and popular culture figures to backtrack on a similar religious freedom law he signed last week. In Arkansas, was Wal-Mart applying the most pressure.

Hutchinson earlier this week asked lawmakers to recall the law that the Arkansas House had given final approval on Tuesday or to send him follow-up legislation that makes the changes he requested.

Meanwhile, Hutchinson said, he's considering signing an executive order that bars discrimination among the state's workforce.

"The issue has become divisive because our nation remains split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions and firmly held religious convictions," Hutchinson said then. "It has divided families, and there is clearly a generational gap on this issue."

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Case in point, Hutchinson said: His son Seth signed a petition asking him to veto the bill and also gave his father permission to tell reporters he'd done so.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that it was a "legitimate question to ask" whether someone who "strongly believes that gay marriage is not consistent with her personal conscience" should be "compelled by law" to offer services to gay couples.

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Arkansas religious freedom law now mirrors federal act