The Republican-led North Carolina legislature has overridden Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of a 12-week abortion limit in the state.
A ban on most abortions after 12 weeks will become law, further limiting access for those in the region, who often traveled to states like North Carolina for care.
On Tuesday both the North Carolina state Senate and House voted to override Gov. Cooper's veto.
The override required that every Republican member of the legislature agree to push the ban forward.
Before the override, state law banned abortions after 20 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
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Nebraska and South Carolina legislatures are also now debating changes to state laws that would put new restrictions on abortion. The South Carolina House on Tuesday debated a bill that would ban abortions after about six weeks' pregnancy.
Now, Florida and Virginia offer some of the most lenient abortion rules remaining in the region. Florida's law currently bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy; Virginia bans abortions after 26 weeks.
The rest of the South generally holds stricter laws: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia all ban abortions throughout pregnancy. Georgia allows abortion only within the first six weeks of pregnancy.
Nationwide, 14 states hold bans on abortion through some stage of pregnancy.
