The South Carolina Senate has passed a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
The South Carolina Senate has passed a ban on most abortions after fetal cardiac activity begins, around six weeks.
The hotly contested bill, which Republican Governor Henry McMaster is expected to sign, passed mostly along party lines, with the notable exception of the state senate's five women members, who opposed it.
The proposal restores a ban South Carolina had in place when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year - a ban that, once it took effect, was overturned by the state's highest court because it violated the state constitution's right to privacy.
Republicans have been searching for an answer to that ruling because it left abortion legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy and sharply increased the number of abortions taking place in South Carolina as most other southern states enacted stricter laws.
The bill includes exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies, the patient's life and health, and rape or incest up to 12 weeks. Doctors could face felony charges carrying two years imprisonment and a $US10,000 ($A15,127) fine.
Tuesday's vote also came after the three Republican women in the Senate urged the other members of their party to adopt a 12-week abortion ban as they fought additional restrictions one month after helping filibuster a near-total ban. They joined all Democrats in voting against the bill.
Republicans said they tweaked parts of the new law so it can pass judicial review.
With AP
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