By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – The Missouri House has voted for the second time to ban protests at funerals. It's designed as a backup measure just in case an earlier funeral protest ban is thrown out by the courts.
The earlier ban recently was signed into law. It bans protests near a funeral ceremony an hour before or after the service, but doesn't designate a distance at which protestors could stand.
The bill approved by the House Thurdsay would require protests to be at least 300 feet away. The second version of the protest ban must now be approved by the Senate.
Lawmakers Martin Rucker and Charlie Shields proposed banning such protests after Kansas church members picketed outside the funeral of a St. Joseph soldier killed in Iraq. Church members contend soldiers are dying in Iraq as vengeance from God because the United States tolerates gays.