(AP) -- JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed legislation that would have banned mandatory insurance coverage of contraception, sterilization and abortion.
Nixon said Thursday that the legislation was unnecessary. He noted a 2001 Missouri law already allows insurers to offer policies without contraception coverage to people or employers who say it violates their moral or religious beliefs.
The Democratic governor said the new bill could have let insurance companies deny contraception coverage to people who desired it.
The bill passed by the Republican-led Legislature was intended as a rebuff of a policy by President Barack Obama's administration that requires insurers to cover birth control at no additional cost to women, including those working at some religious nonprofits.
Nixon had received more than 10,000 messages urging him to sign or veto the legislation.
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