Alabama governor signs bill authorising near-total ban on abortions

Alabama's Republican governor has signed the most stringent abortion legislation in the nation, making abortions illegal in almost all cases.

The law includes a ban on abortion in cases of rape and incest.

Supporters of the bill have said they expect it to be block in court but hope that an appeal process will bring it before the Supreme Court.

"To the bill's many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians' deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God," Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement.

The most restrictive anti-abortion measure in the US will leave doctors facing 10 years behind bars for attempting the procedure and up to 99 years in prison for actually terminating a pregnancy.

Alabama Senate voted 25 to 6 in favour of the bill before it was signed by Ivey.

The move comes amid a wave of bills in Republican states across the US.

Emboldened by the Trump administration, the goal is to challenge the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalised abortion in America.

Under the Alabama bill, the only exception would be when the mother’s life is at serious risk, for an ectopic pregnancy and if the “unborn child has a lethal anomaly.”

The bill's sponsors want to give conservatives on the US Supreme Court a chance to gut abortion rights nationwide, but Democrats and abortion rights advocates criticised the bill as a slap in the face to women voters.

"It just completely disregards women and the value of women and their voice. We have once again silenced women on a very personal issue," said Democrat senator Linda Coleman-Madison.

Coleman-Madison said she hopes the measure awakens a "sleeping giant" of women voters in the state.

Abortion rights advocates vowed swift legal action.

"We vowed to fight this dangerous abortion ban every step of the way and we meant what we said. We haven't lost a case in Alabama yet and we don't plan to start now. We will see Governor Ivey in court," said Staci Fox, president and CEO of charity Planned Parenthood Southeast.