COLUMBIA - South Carolina lawmakers who oppose abortion are looking to next year to further restrict the procedure here.

Other Southern states already are trying to follow the lead of South Dakota, where Republican Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation almost totally banning the procedure. The measure would ban all abortions except those necessary to save women's lives. It forbids the procedure even in cases of rape and incest.

A similar bill pending in Mississippi's Legislature would allow abortion if the mother was the victim of rape or incest. Tennessee lawmakers are trying to amend that state's constitution so that it doesn't guarantee a woman's right to an abortion.

Palmetto State lawmakers have not followed suit, partly because issues such as property taxes and complying with a court order to boost early childhood education have taken priority. A 50 percent drop in the number of abortions here since a 1988 peak also has helped put the issue on the back burner.

"We (abortion foes) basically got together and decided abortion wouldn't be an issue this year," said Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville. "Had we known South Dakota would have done what they did, there would have been thoughtful consideration on testing the waters here, I assure you."

Lawmakers said the 2007 legislative session will likely include a renewed push for a bill that would give a fetus equal protection rights at the moment of fertilization. The House passed the measure last year.

A bill pending this year, dubbed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, treats violent attacks on a pregnant woman as separate crimes against both her and the fetus she is carrying. It is similar to laws passed by 20 other states and Congress.

South Dakota's law is aimed at challenging the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which overturned state laws banning abortion. Some abortion opponents believe the high court's addition of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito make it an opportune time to challenge the ruling.

South Carolina law allows abortions in the first and second trimesters but forbids it in the third unless the mother's life is in danger. It also requires parental notification and bans what is often called partial-birth abortions.