The Alabama Senate on Thursday postponed debate on a proposal to outlaw most abortions in the state, delaying a measure that is intended to serve as a direct challenge to the Supreme Court’s holding that a woman has a constitutional right to end a pregnancy.

Faced with a procedural dispute and open divisions among Republicans over how far the abortion ban should go, the Senate abruptly adjourned until Tuesday. As the chaos played out on the Senate floor, where lawmakers clashed over whether the state should allow abortions in cases of rape or incest, supporters and critics alike acknowledged that the bill, the most far-reaching effort in the nation this year to curb abortion, was still likely to become law.

“I know you all are for this bill, and I know this bill is going to pass,” Senator Vivian Davis Figures, a Democrat and one of the few women in the Alabama Legislature, told Republicans on the floor on Thursday. “You all are going to get your way, but at least treat us fairly and do it the right way.”

The measure would effectively ban most abortions at every stage of pregnancy. Doctors could be charged with a felony and face up to 99 years in prison for performing an abortion, unless the woman’s health was at “serious” risk.