ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – A midlevel state appeals court on Feb. 16 upheld the state’s marriage law as constitutional, handing a defeat to same-sex couples seeking to be married in New York.

The five-judge panel ruled in three separate cases brought on behalf of same-sex couples denied marriage licenses. The similar cases are among a handful that could eventually end up before the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, which is widely expected to make the ultimate judicial decision on the legality of same-sex marriage in New York.

The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court ruling keeps the status quo on same-sex marriage. Last week’s decision follows a 4-1 December ruling by the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in New York City to reverse a lower court decision that would have permitted same-sex couples to wed in New York City.

The couples claim state health regulations defining marriage as being only between a man and a woman violate the state constitution’s equal protection, privacy and due-process provisions.

Gov. George Pataki’s health department and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer have said New York prohibits municipal clerks from issuing licenses to same-sex couples. In October, Peter Schiff, senior counsel with the state Attorney General’s office, argued before the appellate court that the plaintiffs wanted the courts to rewrite the definition of marriage. He said that job is best handled by the legislative branch of government.

The court agreed.

“In our opinion, the Legislature is where the changes to marriage” should be addressed, Justice John Lahtinen wrote in the 5-0 decision.

“It’s a great decision for marriage, the family and for children,” said Mathew Staver, president of the Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal group based in Florida. “It’s a huge setback for the same-sex marriage agenda and preserves marriage as one man, one woman.”

Trial-level courts had also ruled against the plaintiffs. All three cases were filed in 2004 when the same-sex marriage issue roiled the country from Boston to San Francisco. The controversy landed in New York after the mayor of the Hudson Valley village of New Paltz married about two-dozen gay and lesbian couples in February 2004.

Attorney Roberta Kaplan, who argued for the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 13 couples in one of the cases, said she was disappointed with the decision but gratified that the court recognized there was “no practical difference” between families headed by same-sex couples and those headed by straight couples.

“It’s pretty clear this was a very close case and the court took time grappling with the issue,” she said. “The ultimate battle will be before the state’s highest court and I’m confident they are going to come out the other way.”