JACKSON, Miss. — Four lesbian couples are asking a federal judge to immediately stop Mississippi from enforcing a law that bans same-sex couples from adopting or taking children into foster care.

The request for a preliminary injunction comes in court papers filed Friday. It says an injunction would only affect the four couples who are plaintiffs.

The couples and two gay-rights groups filed suit Aug. 12 to challenge the 2000 adoption ban. It was not immediately clear how soon U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan will consider the request.

The couples point out that Republican Gov. Phil Bryant said in his 2014 State of the State address that he wanted all children to be born into a “mature, two-parent family.” They say allowing same-sex couples to adopt would help fulfill that goal.

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