Bush signs bill limiting funeral protests

WASHINGTON, May 29 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush signed a bill Monday intended to force members of a Kansas church to stop targeting military funerals with anti-gay demonstrations.

The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church and some of his followers picketed outside Arlington National Cemetery after the bill signing as Bush laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns, CNN reported. Demonstrators carried signs with messages like "Thank God for IEDs."

A number of states have passed similar legislation, requiring protesters to keep their distance from funerals. Phelps told National Public Radio he plans a legal challenge, which some constitutional scholars say is likely to succeed.

The Topeka church, which consists mostly of members of Phelps' family, became notorious by demonstrating at the funeral of Matthew Shepherd, a gay college student killed in Wyoming, and targeting politicians and religious leaders Phelps perceives as pro-homosexual.

Phelps argues that the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq are divine retribution for U.S. tolerance of homosexuality.