John Kasich says he wouldn't have signed North Carolina's so-called bathroom bill shielding businesses from anti-gay lawsuits and requiring transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates.
In an interview to be aired on CBS News'
"Face the Nation" Sunday, the Ohio governor called the legislation too potentially "contentious."
"I believe that religious institutions ought to be protected and be able to be in a position of where they can live out their deeply held religious purposes,"
he said in remarks released Saturday.
"But when you get beyond that it gets to be a tricky issue. And tricky is not the right word, but it can become a contentious issue."
"In our state, we're not facing this, so everybody needs to take a deep breath, respect one another, and the minute we start trying to write laws, things become more polarized, things - they become more complicated," he added.
"Obviously I don't want to force people to violate their deeply held religious convictions, but we'd have to see what that's all about. I wouldn't have signed that law from everything I know, I haven't studied it."
Mississippi's Gov. Phil Bryant recently signed a similar bill, and CBS notes comparable bills are under consideration in several other states.
Kasich said there's no reason for the bill.
"Why do we have to write a law every time we turn around in this country?" Kasich asked. "Can't we figure out just how to get along a little bit better and respect one another? I mean that's where I think we ought to be. Everybody chill out. Get over it if you have a disagreement with somebody. So that's where I am right now... and unless something pops up, I'm not inclined to sign anything."
North Carolina's law has already triggered a backlash, with online commerce company PayPal most recently saying it'll scratch plans to locate a $3.6 million facility in North Carolina in response to the law, and rock star
Bruce Springsteen canceling an upcoming show.