Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday asked a state appeals court not to rule on the state's ban on gay marriage until the Supreme Court weighs in on the issue.

Bondi asked the 3rd District Court of Appeals to put a freeze on two challenges to the ban before the court.

“Neither this Court nor the Florida Supreme Court can decide this issue with finality,” Bondi wrote. “The United States Supreme Court, however, 'has the final word on the United States Constitution.'”

“A ruling from the United States Supreme Court would end the constitutional debate, end this appeal, and end all related cases,” she added. “The State of Florida will respect the United States Supreme Court's final word. In the meantime, this Court should preserve taxpayer and judicial resources by staying briefing until the United States Supreme Court rules.”

Defendants in three cases challenging state bans in Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia have asked or plan to ask the Supreme Court to step in.

Four state judges have declared Florida's ban invalid.

Nadine Smith, CEO of LGBT rights advocate Equality Florida, called on Bondi to stop defending the ban in court.

“There is no certainty when or even if the Supreme Court will take a marriage case, and while AG Bondi delays, thousands of Florida families are denied the security and protections that come with the freedom to marry,” Smith said. “We agree on one thing: Bondi should stop wasting taxpayer dollars. We call on her to take the position of nine other attorneys general who have chosen not to defend an unjust law.”