North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a restrictive anti-abortion bill into law, CNN reported on Monday.
The bill first passed the state's Senate and then its House of Representatives earlier this month.
According to a July Huffington Post report, the legislation will eliminate abortion coverage for public employees and individuals who have insurance through federal health care law's public exchanges. It also will ban sex-selective abortions and impose additional regulations on abortion clinics.
During an October 2012 gubernatorial campaign debate, McCrory said he wouldn't sign any additional restrictions on abortion into law.
More from the Associated Press:
Critics say the move represents a shift by the first-year Republican executive, who pledged as a candidate last fall that he wouldn't approve any new abortion restrictions if elected.
McCrory, however, said he wasn't limiting access to the procedure, but rather was signing a measure that "will result in safer conditions for North Carolina women."
The measure was passed by the Republican-majority legislature in the session's waning days. Critics say the move will lead to the closure of most of North Carolina's 16 abortion clinics because only one now meets the standards of an outpatient surgical center.
Abortion rights supporters demonstrated outside the governor's executive mansion in a last-ditch effort to get him to veto the legislation.
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