By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – It's now against the law to stage a protest near a funeral in Missouri.
A bill signed Thursday bans picketing and protests "in front of or about" any church, cemetery or funeral home from one hour before until one hour after a service.
More than a dozen states, including Illinois, are considering similar bans in response to protests at military funerals by a Kansas church group. That group says American soldiers die in Iraq and elsewhere because of divine anger at the nation's tolerance of gays.
Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons (R-Kirkwood) signed the bill into law Thursday because Governor Matt Blunt and Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder were both out of state.
The church group is promising a lawsuit if the law keeps it from getting its message out.