The North Carolina Senate has voted 29 to 12 in favor of a bill that would require abortion providers to meet strict licensing standards that most do not currently meet.

The section mandating these requirements were added to an unrelated bill only yesterday, reports the Washington Post. The bill’s primary purpose was to ban Islamic sharia law

The state’s House of Representatives is also controlled by Republicans, though Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has not indicated whether he would sign the bill.

Supporters of the measure have stated that the legislation would protect the safety of women seeking an abortion, reports Reuters. However, opponents of the bill point out that it could shut down all but one of the state’s abortion providers.

“This is really about limiting women’s rights,” said Sen. Angela Bryant, a Rocky Mount Democrat, the NC News & Observer reports.

The bill would require that abortion clinics meet the same standards as ambulatory surgery centers, limit healthcare coverage for abortion, and have a doctor be present when a woman takes the RU-486 pill to induce abortion.

“You’re going to win this debate and feel really good about yourself because you great big gray-haired men beat up on three women,” said Democrat Martin Nesbitt (right), Senate Minority Leader, referring to the three Democratic women senators present. “Let’s see what you do with 10,000 of them.”

Many are annoyed with the unusual way the measure was passed.

“It seems to me that they’re trying to pass under cover of darkness legislation that would not otherwise be passed,” commented Suzanne Buckley, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina. “They’re trying to pull a Texas.”

Images: The Carolina Mercury Twitter, WikiCommons