Westboro Baptist Church to Defy Obama on Military Funerals Restrictions?
The Westboro Baptist Church has vowed to work around President Barack Obama's restrictions on protests at military funerals as outlined in "Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act," which became law on Monday.
"I think all Americans feel we have a moral, sacred duty toward our men and women in uniform,'' Obama said before signing the bill. "They protect our freedom, and it's our obligation to do right by them. This bill takes another important step in fulfilling that commitment."
The president also called the graves of veterans "hallowed grounds."
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The "Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act" bans protests within 300 feet of military funerals, The Associated Press reported.
This new law might make it a bit harder for groups like the Westboro Baptist Church to picket the families of those who have lost their lives defending the country. The radical Christian group is well known for picketing such funerals, because they believe that God wants to punish America for its acceptance of homosexuality.
"Protests that encroach upon the funerals and burials of our fallen soldiers are repugnant and inappropriate – and they undermine the respect military families and loved ones undeniably deserve," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who sponsored the bill.
The Westboro Baptist Church's members, however, have already said that regardless of the new rules, they will find a way to continue their protests, and do so within the confines of the law.
"That's really not going to change our plans at all," said Westboro Baptist Church spokesman Steve Drain to CNN. "We're going to continue to do that. We're also going to continue to obey all laws."
"We'll be out there, doing our thing," he added of the next planned funerals in Lincoln, Neb.
Besides the funerals restrictions, the bill has multiple aspects to it that help military families across America, and was passed with bipartisan support last week.
Among the provisions included are health benefits to the people affected by tainted groundwater at Camp Lejeune from 1957 to 1987, which was the home of a large community of military families, many of whom reported cases of rare forms of childhood leukemia and male breast cancer.
''Sadly, this act alone will not bring back those we've lost," Obama said, "but it will honor their memory by making a real difference for those who are still suffering.
