DES MOINES, Iowa AP – The gay marriage debate moves to the Midwest this week as the Iowa Supreme Court hears arguments in a challenge to the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

If the high court rules in favor of the half-dozen gay couples who sued, it would make Iowa the fourth state after Massachusetts, California and Connecticut to uphold the right of same-sex couples to legally marry. In California, however, voters have negated the courts by amending the state constitution to ban gay marriage.