JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed legislation Thursday that would have banned mandatory insurance coverage of birth control for anyone with religious or moral objections, asserting the bill could have also allowed insurers to deny contraception to women who want it.

Nixon's veto came after two months of intense public lobbying during which his office received more than 10,000 messages urging him to either sign or veto the legislation that sought to inject Missouri into a national debate about birth control.

The bill passed by the Republican-led Legislature was intended as a rebuff of a policy by Democratic President Barack Obama's administration that requires insurers to cover birth control at no additional cost to women, including those working at religiously affiliated nonprofits such as hospitals, colleges or charities.