DENVER -- There was a big clash at the state Capitol Thursday when protesters who target soldiers' funerals faced off with soldiers' families.

The commotion was over a bill introduced Thursday that limits where protesters can demonstrate.

The Rest in Peace Act will prevent demonstrations within 500 feet of churches, mortuaries and cemeteries. People also could not demonstrate 60 minutes before and after the event if the bill passes. Violators face a $750 fine and six months in jail.

Rep. Mike Merrifield, a Democrat from Manitou Springs, said by introducing House Bill 1382 he is trying to balance the free speech rights of protesters and the rights of families to mourn peacefully and privately.

"It is simply unspeakable for anyone to try to disrupt grieving families during funerals," Merrifield said. "This bill will help shield families from such disrespectful and despicable acts and assure Colorado families that they can mourn the loss of their loved ones without offensive and disrespectful interruptions."

The Rest in Peace Act is specifically designed to stop people such as the members of the Westboro Baptist Church. The ultraconservative church claims soldier deaths in Iraq are punishment for America's toleration of gays and lesbians. For the past nine months, they have toured the nation, protesting at soldiers' funerals.

The group protested in early March, picketing in Colorado Springs at the service for Sgt. Gordon Misner, who died in Iraq after a roadside attack. Misner's family was appalled by the church's actions.

"Our hearts are all broken. We're distraught. We're in shock. These people are trying to invade on something very personal to you," said Misner's mother, Charlene McCartin.

However, the 76-year-old head of the church was unrepentant.

"I love it. I mean, how many times do you have to say, 'God hates America' before we get the message out?" said the Rev. Fred Phelps.

About 30 members of the church, including small children, picketed the state Capitol Thursday afternoon.

Phelps' daughter, Margie, a spokeswoman for Westboro protesters, said the U.S. government is using military funerals for pep rallies to build sympathy and support for the war, and protesters have a right to have their voices heard as well.

"If they want a private funeral, they can go inside," said Phelps.

"Stop sending or the bodies are going to keep coming. It's because this nation has embraced these filthy f*** and lifted its middle finger to God!" she yelled.

"We fight for people like you to do this!" screamed back Jeremy Palmer, a Marine who has served two tours in Iraq.

"They have the right to do this but when one of them is standing on the American flag, that's bull right there. She might as well just move to another country because she's not an American if she's doing that," Palmer said.

Palmer was joined with other veterans and families of veterans who felt that the church's actions and words were despicable.

"I have a son that's in Iraq, just left this week. And he told me that's why he's there, to provide this free speech," said Steve Bolinger, tearing.

"He's getting shot at. He's avoiding IEDs. He's doing all that. He doesn't need to be thinking that people in his country are back here, talking about this," said Ashley Glover, who was talking on her cell phone to her husband, who was serving in Iraq.

The clash was intense and emotional, with people crying and some screaming.

One person who wasn't at the Capitol but who knows how harmful the protests can be was a mother in Greeley, whose son, Tyler MacKenzie, died in Iraq. The Westboro group had shown up at MacKenzie's funeral.

"We wanted the most dignified funeral we could have for him because that's the kind of person he was," said Julie MacKenzie.

"My son died protecting that right for them to protest," said MacKenzie. She said her son would have been one of the first to say that Phelps has a right to protest, but that a funeral is not the place to do it.

"And the fact that they're standing on American flags, having signs saying, 'Thank God for IEDs.' That's how Tyler was killed, by an IED," MacKenzie said. "It's insensitive. It's disrespectful. They're cowards."

She supports the proposal in the Legislature, and wouldn't even mind an all-right ban on protests at funerals. The Rest in Peace Act will go before a committee next week and has bipartisan support.

The bill also has large support from the Patriot Guard Riders, motorcycle-riding veterans who hold large American flags outside soldiers' funerals to shield families and drown out the protesters. The group was at Misner's funeral, lining the streets with American flags, hoping that that is the image that the grieving family remembers.

Because the actions of the Topeka, Kan.-based church group has caused so much controversy nationwide, there is now talk of a federal bill that would ban such protests.

Five states have already enacted similar laws, including Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Another 27 states, including Colorado, are considering it.

Richard Collins, a law professor at the University of Colorado, said so-called bubble laws have been upheld by higher courts as long as the restrictions are reasonable. He said lawmakers have to balance the rights of free speech with freedom of religion because most funerals include religious services.

Cathryn Hazouri, executive director of the Colorado ACLU, said she believes the protests are "reprehensible," but her organization will oppose the bill because it's too broad. She said the proposed law would virtually eliminate protests because there are funeral ceremonies going on all the time at cemeteries.

"The people who are having their services are not prohibited from having their services. It's the protesters outside who are stopped," Hazouri said.

Collins said lawmakers cannot try to stop the protesters, no matter how objectionable they find their beliefs.

"Dislike of the message is not a good enough reason," Collins said.

"Fred Phelps has been trying for years to spread his hateful message," said Bruce H. DeBoskey, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Mountain States Region. "He and his group protested at the funeral of Matthew Shepard. They've protested at local churches and civic centers. And now they've taken up the vile tactic of broadcasting their hatred at the funerals of soldiers who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. ADL urges all Coloradoans to join together to reject this kind of bullying bigotry and send Phelps and his band of followers the clear message that Colorado is no place for hate."

The Westboro church members -- most of whom are relatives -- are also planning to picket a downtown hotel this weekend, when a benefit dinner will be held for the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Shepard was a young gay man who was killed in Wyoming in 1998.