SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah legislator wants to join a growing list of states making it a crime to disrupt a memorial service in an effort to stop anti-gay groups from protesting at military funerals.

Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley City, has requested a bill be drafted that would mirror laws enacted in a dozen other states limiting how and where protesters can demonstrate at a funeral.

The tide of legislation being passed this year is in response to a group of protesters from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.

Members of the church say U.S. soldiers in Iraq are being struck down by God for defending a nation that tolerates homosexuality. The church, which is not affiliated with mainstream Baptist congregations, travels the country to picket military funerals. The Southern Poverty Law Center monitors the church as a hate group.

Legislation limiting protests at funerals has been introduced in 31 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

That includes Kentucky, whose law is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit May 1, arguing that the law goes too far in limiting free speech and free expression.

Kentucky's law prohibits distributing literature, making sounds within earshot of mourners or making images observable to participants in addition to being prohibited from congregating within 300 feet of a memorial service.

Most newly passed state laws only set the distance between a memorial service and where protesters can gather.

Bigelow said funeral protests have not been a problem in Utah in the past and he wants to keep it that way.

"I don't want to stop free speech, but also, there is an appropriate place for it," Bigelow said. "They can do their thing and express their opinion without causing pain to someone."

He said he hasn't decided what his bill will prohibit, but it will likely include a buffer zone between protesters and funeral attendants. Several states have chosen a 500-foot buffer between protesters and funerals. A bill passed by Michigan legislators last week would allow those who disrupt a funeral within that zone to be fined $5,000 and spend two years in prison.

Bigelow said most people in Utah, regardless of political party, would support legislation designed to allow for a peaceful funeral service. While the Legislature isn't in session until January, he said it's important to begin a debate about it to solicit opposing ideas. May 1 was the first day bill files for the upcoming session could be submitted.

"We'll talk with people on both sides -- those who want to have the right to demonstrate and those who want to preserve the dignity of a funeral and of its purpose, honoring that person and giving families some closure," Bigelow said. "That's typically difficult to do in a heated environment."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D4.