EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) _ A federal judge has ruled that the state must recognize a gay couple's out-of-state marriage before one of the women, who has cancer, dies.

Lambda Legal attorney Paul Castillo, who represented the women, says U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young “ordered the state to recognize this particular couple's out of state marriage.''

Niki Quasney and Amy Sandler wanted Indiana to recognize their 2013 marriage in Massachusetts, one of 17 states where gay marriage is legal.

Quasney has stage 4 ovarian cancer and the Munster, Ind., couple wanted Young to order the state to recognize their marriage in Quasney's anticipated death certificate.

The decision doesn't affect other lawsuits challenging Indiana's gay marriage ban.