JOHNSON COUNTY, Iowa - Friday’s Iowa Supreme Court decision to recognize both lesbian parents on state birth certificates had special meaning for one Johnson County couple.

Married same-sex couples have the same rights as married heterosexuals to have both parents listed on the birth certificates of their newborn children, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled this morning.

A handful of House conservatives want to reduce the pay of Iowa Supreme Court justices involved in a 2009 decision striking down a ban on same-sex marriages as part of an effort to maintain the balance of power in state government.

Another Illinois Republican has announced his support for a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state adding to what proponents of the bill call “growing momentum” for the measure leading up to the start of session Monday.

Minnesota College Republicans Chairman Ryan Lyk announced his support for the legalization of same-sex marriage Wednesday.

The two-term chairman said it's time for the Republican party to get past the issue.

Teege and David Mettille made history by becoming the first gay foster parents in Outagamie County, but they’re held back from full legal parenting rights of the child they adopted last month.

Teege Mettille, an Appleton alderman who represents a downtown district, is Logan’s father in the eyes of the 3-year-old, but not the state. He and his partner, David, adopted the toddler last month after raising him in foster care for more than two years.

The North Dakota State Senate passed two anti-abortion bills on Friday that would be the first laws of their kind in the United States and would ban most abortions in the state. One bill would prevent women from having abortions as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks into the pregnancy, and the other bans abortions in cases of fetal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome.

Seven U.S. representatives from Illinois are calling on Illinois lawmakers to approve a gay marriage bill.

After passage in the Senate last month, the measure awaits a vote in the House.

It's an issue with two very split sides--gay rights expansion in Nebraska.

State lawmakers in the judiciary committee peer out to a huge crowd Thursday. Dozens of people spoke in support of gay rights expansion in Nebraska. Dozens of people in opposition, as well.

A proposal to allow gay weddings in Minnesota survived several moves by Senate Republicans Wednesday to block it, an early signal the measure likely has enough votes to pass on the floor.

Both on the Senate floor and in a Rules Committee meeting, Democrats who control the chamber defeated a series of Republican motions to postpone its progress. Republicans said they were simply seeking more information about whether it would cost tax money to allow gay couples to marry — in court costs, state employee benefits and other areas.