The state Supreme Court said it will issue its highly anticipated decision Thursday on whether same-sex couples can be legally married.

The court's opinion will be released at 10 a.m. and will be posted at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions.

The ruling will cap a legal battle begun in 2004 over the state law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriage advocates have said the law violates the civil rights of gays and lesbians who cannot be legally married.

The seven-member court, largely seen as moderate to right-of-center on social issues, heard oral arguments in March involving a set of lawsuits filed by same-sex couples from San Francisco and Los Angeles. The court seemed divided on the issue at the hearing.

A decision striking down the law would make California the second state, along with Massachusetts, to allow same-sex marriage.

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