|TOP|The Republican governor of South Dakota has signed a near-blanket ban on abortion in the state in a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s legislation of the practice in 1973.

The landmark ban was signed in on Monday and makes the path clear for a legal battle likely to take years to resolve, expects state Gov. Mike Rounds, although the ban will not take effect unless the Supreme Court upholds it.

The ban makes it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion in the state of South Dakota except to save the life of the woman, which also applies to cases of rape and incest.

Gov. Rounds said: “In the history of the world, the true test of a civilisation is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society. The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them."

|AD|The state’s only abortion clinic, operated in Sioux Falls by Planned Parenthood, has pledged to challenge the law.

NARAL Pro-Choice America, which supports abortion rights, has launched an appeal to support a campaign against the measure, with its president, Nancy Keenan, describing the law as a “monumental setback for women in South Dakota and across the country”.

Pro-lifers are encouraged by the decision of the South Dakota governor to sign the law, however, as 11 other states across America continue to consider similar bans.

Leslee Unruh of Sioux Falls is founder of the Alpha Centre, a pro-life group that offers counselling to pregnant women and those who have had an abortion. She said the decision by the governor to sign the bill was a victory for women because of the mental and physical harm caused by abortion.

David Bereit, executive director of the American Life League, described the South Dakota ruling as “tremendously encouraging news”.

He is hopeful that the law and the measures under consideration in other states will “accelerate the appeals process” and bring the issue back to the fore at the Supreme Court.

Mr Bereit’s hope echoed the predictions of Gov. Rounds who said: "Because this new law is a direct challenge to the Roe v. Wade interpretation of the Constitution, I expect this law will be taken to court and prevented from going into effect this July. That challenge will likely take years to be settled."