INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Legal experts say a federal judge's lengthy deliberations on whether to stay his ruling recognizing a same-sex Indiana couple's marriage could signal that a broader decision is coming.

The state asked U.S. District Judge Richard Young on May 8th to lift his order requiring Indiana to recognize the out-of-state marriage of Amy Sandler and Niki Quasney, who is terminally ill.

The couple wants their Massachusetts marriage recognized on Quasney's death certificate. She has stage 4 ovarian cancer.

Marriage law expert Seymour J. Reisman says it's unusual for a judge to take so long to rule on a stay.

He and other legal experts predict Young could instead rule on the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban without first issuing a stay order in the Quasney case.