Attorney General Chris Koster said Monday his office will not appeal a circuit court ruling last week ordering Missouri to recognize the marriages of 10 LGBT couples here that were legally married outside of Missouri.

“Our national government is founded upon principles of federalism – a system that empowers Missouri to set policy for itself, but also obligates us to honor contracts entered into in other states,” he said in a statement.

The judge’s ruling came despite Missouri’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Koster, a Democrat who is planning a run for governor in 2016, said, “Missouri’s future will be one of inclusion, not exclusion.”

Koster said that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Monday to let stand a slew of successful challenges to LGBT marriage bans might soon add nearly a dozen states to the growing list of states where they are legal.

“At a time when Missouri is competing to attract the nation’s premier businesses and most talented employees, we should not demand that certain individuals surrender their marriage licenses in order to live and work among us,” Koster said.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Republican who campaigned for the state’s ban on same-sex marriages in 2004, said in a statement Friday she was “deeply disappointed” with the Missouri judge’s decision.

“issouri citizens overwhelmingly approved this amendment with 71 percent of our citizens supporting it. I look forward to this ruling being appealed to the United States Supreme Court and the right of Missouri citizens to make decisions regarding marriage policy being upheld,” she said.