Protests around the country at the funerals of American soldiers have prompted a strong reaction from legislators at both the state and national level.

A bill introduced Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, would restrict protesters from demonstrating at military funerals or national cemeteries.

Meanwhile, a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Judy Emmons, R-Sheridan, is being considered in the Michigan Legislature.

The bills are in response to protests at funerals nationwide, organized by the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church, based in Kansas.

The group, whose rallies center around their claim that American soldiers are being killed because they fight for a nation that supports homosexuality, said the proposed bills infringe on their right to protest.

The bill in the U.S. House of Representatives has more than two dozen sponsors and co-sponsors.

It stipulates that protesters remain 500 feet from mourners, and also prevents them from demonstrating 60 minutes before and after the funeral service.

"Families should be able to mourn in peace for the military men and women who sacrifice their lives in defense of the nation," Rogers said in a press release.

"At a time when families wish to bury their loved one with honor, and mourn them peacefully, they should not be subjected to vile, nasty slogans and harassment aimed at them by protesters."

Rogers attended a funeral for a soldier killed in Iraq early this month in Flushing, which was disrupted by protesters. That prompted him to pursue this legislation, said Sylvia Warner, Rogers' spokeswoman.

There have been three protests at funerals in Michigan, she said.

"It's unadulterated hate," Warner said.

Rogers began talking with attorneys to draft a bill that would prevent protesting at funerals without infringing on the group's right to protest.

However, Shirley Phelps-Roper, a spokeswoman for the Westboro Baptist Church, said the legislation does just that.

"The very first time one of those laws gets in our way, we will sue them," Phelps-Roper said.

"Those laws are not constitutional."

The bill restricts protesters' rights to protest and freedom of religion, she said.

"I'm so happy that this nation who hates God is now before the eyes of the world ready to give away, to dismantle as it were, those freedoms they claim those soldiers have died for," she said.

However, Warner said that the Supreme Court has established that it is legal to regulate the time, place and manner in which protests occur — as long as their content is not restricted.

The bill in the Michigan House of Representatives would make it a felony to engage in disruptive behavior within 500 feet of the ceremony.

"I have seen firsthand the hatred that funeral protesting creates, and it is highly disturbing," Emmons said in a press release.

"This bill gives families a chance to preserve the dignity and respect of their loved ones, and that of all those who have made the same sacrifice."