The Supreme Court’s decision to rule on same-sex marriage may have been a big victory for gays and lesbians hoping the court will end the debate, and it may be a boon to Republicans as well.

A New York Times report states that a ruling in favor of same-sex marriage could provide the Republicans with a “political escape hatch” that would allow them to wash their hands of the issue, which the majority of Americans believe the Republican Party is on the wrong side of.

The Supreme Court is expected to resolve the issue in June, and the court’s decision could finally put an end to a debate that has been raging in state legislatures and in appeals courts across the nation.

Republicans were largely silent when the Supreme Court announced it would take up the issue, suggesting some fatigue on the part of Republicans to wade into a debate that has not been going their way in recent years. For example, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, seen by many as a potential presidential candidate for the GOP, said about the same-sex issue that “for us, it’s over in Wisconsin.”

Of course, a Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade did not prevent abortion from remaining a major bone of contention for Republicans during the decades since.

However, the Times indicates that gay marriage may prove to be different than abortion based on early responses to the decision. The Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 caused an outcry in Republican circles and a push to introduce a constitutional amendment or appoint judges who would overturn it.

However, Republicans don’t appear to be willing to mount the same kind of mass movement to fight such a decision should it coming, and the primaries don’t appear to force the candidates to have to answer questions on whether they would support a constitutional ban on gay marriage like they did in the past with abortion.

Another reason is that polling suggests that support for abortion rates has remained at 50 percent, virtually unchanged since the ruling was made decades ago. Support for gay marriage, however, has reached close to 60 percent in some polls and has been growing dramatically over the years.

If the Supreme Court finally settles the issue, Republicans may find it to be more than a relief than a rallying cry as they head into a very important 2016 presidential election.