Abortion bans in conservative Nebraska and South Carolina both failed to advance this week after heated debates, while North Dakota's governor on Monday signed a law banning abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

Here's what's happening this week in abortion access in the states:

Nebraska 6-week abortion ban fails to advance

Thursday, an effort to advance a bill banning abortions around the sixth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of breaking a filibuster in the Nebraska legislature, making the bill unlikely to move forward this year.

This is the second year in a row a bill intended to further restrict abortion access in the state has failed. Nebraska bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Even abortion rights activists protesting outside the legislative chamber expressed shock at the vote's failure.

"This gives me hope for the future," said Pat Neal, 72, of Lincoln. "It gives me hope that the direction we’ve been seeing — across the country — could turn around."