The Arizona Legislature has approved emergency
legislation to head off picketing by a Topeka church at the
funeral service for a 9-year-old girl who was killed during
Saturday’s shooting in Tucson.
Unanimous votes by the House and Senate on Tuesday send the bill
to Gov. Jan Brewer for her expected signature.
The bill prohibiting protests at or near funeral sites would
take effect immediately.
The Westboro Baptist Church said Monday it plans to picket
Thursday’s funeral for Christina Taylor Green. She is one of six
people who were killed in the shooting that injured U.S. Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others.
The fundamentalist church has picketed military funerals to draw
attention to its view that the deaths are God’s punishment for the
nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.