In his first press conference since the Iowa Supreme Court voided the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, Gov. Chet Culver said Wednesday that Iowa’s voters will have their voices heard on the issue, even if a constitutional amendment doesn’t become reality.

“[Opponents] can talk to their legislators about amending the constitution,” Culver said. “They will have the option on the ballot in 2010 to call for a constitution convention. So the voters will have an opportunity to weigh in on this.”

When the court’s ruling was made public Friday, Culver issued a statement saying only that he would study the decision before making any further statements. Tuesday, he ended his silence, saying he was “reluctant to support amending the Iowa Constitution to add a provision that our Supreme Court has said is unlawful and discriminatory.”

Opponents had hoped Culver, who had previously said he would be to so far as to call a special session to “protect marriage between a man and a woman,” would take a firm stand against the ruling, bolstering their efforts to pass a constitutional amendment overturning the court’s ruling.

After four days of consideration, Culver rejected that argument.

“We have to be very respectful of the Equal Protection Clause of the Iowa Constitution,” Culver said. “This court in a unanimous decision has stated that it is discriminatory to deny people rights given to them in our constitution.”

Culver said he waited to make a decision in order to avoid a “knee-jerk reaction.”

“This decision took more than four months to come down from the court,” he said. “I think it’s appropriate to take as much time as necessary, in my case four days, to thoroughly read the decision. It’s 69 pages long. It involves a lot of complex legal arguments on both sides. I also thought it was important for me to sit down with the Attorney General.”

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller released a statment Friday supporting the court’s ruling.

Culver said the voters will ultimately decide the issue due to the fact that the option to hold a constitutional convention is on 2010 ballot.

“We have not had one since 1857,” he said. “So, we’ll see what the people of Iowa have to say about that.”

If a convention is held, it will be “much broader than this one issue.”

“Might be the opportunity to have a convention to reaffirm our commitment to hardworking people; to work at that convention to ensure we continue to fight for our teachers; to work at that convention to protect seniors and their rights; to work at that convention to protect veterans,” Culver said.