Missouri's Republican-led Senate has passed a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, just days after Alabama signed in the strictest abortion laws in the US.
Senators approved the Missouri legislation 24 votes to 10 on Thursday.
Missouri’s lower house and Republican Governor Mike Parson, who voiced support for it on Wednesday, must back the bill before it can become law.
If it is approved, abortions past eight weeks would be banned in most cases, including rape or incest.
Their vote came only hours after Alabama's governor signed an effective ban on abortion, making the procedure illegal after six weeks of pregnancy.
If the law passes in Missouri, doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions at eight weeks or later into a pregnancy would not be prosecuted.
Missouri state Senator Jill Schupp, a Democrat, condemned the bill for failing to "understanding that women's lives all hold different stories".
However, Republican state Senators Dave Schatz and Caleb Rowden published a joint statement praising the "life-affirming" legislation.
Missouri is among a growing number of states where abortion opponents are working with renewed enthusiasm following President Donald Trump's appointment of more conservative high court justices.
Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy.
Similar restrictions in North Dakota and Iowa have been struck down in court.
