By Perry Bacon Jr.

The debate over Indiana's new religious freedom law illustrates an increasingly tough challenge for Republican Party politicians who are caught between growing national support for gay rights among most Americans and the large bloc of deeply religious GOP voters who are wary of policy changes like same-sex marriage.

Many Republicans have conceded that national acceptance of gay marriage is inevitable, with court rulings across the country striking down same-sex marriage bans. But social conservatives say that the next front in their fight should be to protect religious freedom, arguing that people of faith who oppose same-sex unions should not be required to take actions that in effect condone gay marriage.

Indiana social conservatives have been pushing for the adoption of a specific provision to defend religious freedom, and Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, signed one into law last week. But the resulting national backlash - including from big business organizations - showed that the religious freedom argument may no longer be an easy way for Republicans to balance the views of gay rights backers and Christian conservatives.

Entertainers and actors have blasted the state, arguing the law in effect allows discrimination against gay people. So have a number of liberal politicians, mostly notably Hillary Clinton.

But perhaps most significantly to both Pence and the Republican Party, which seeks to cast itself as very-pro-business, a number of major companies have attacked the law, including an impassioned critique from Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"We have never seen reactions like this, we never expected that," said David Long, a Republican leader in the Indiana State Senate, which overwhelmingly approved the provision.

The issue has now become split along partisan lines. In a message on Twitter, Clinton wrote, "Sad this new Indiana law can happen in America today."

But when asked about it on Monday, three Republican presidential candidates, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, all endorsed the provision.

"When you're asking someone who provides professional services to do something, or be punished by law, that violates their faith, you're violating that religious liberty that they have," said Rubio in an interview on Fox News.

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Backlash to Indiana 'Religious Freedom' Law a Hurdle for GOP