Topeka ? The Rev. Fred Phelps will have to use a large megaphone to be heard by those attending Kansas funerals of soldiers killed in combat under legislation gaining first-round approval Wednesday in the House.

Under the bill, anybody picketing or protesting a funeral can’t get closer than 300 yards one hour before, during and two hours after the service. It also makes it unlawful to obstruct or prevent the intended uses of public streets and sidewalks or other public space while protesting.

Violators can be punished by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. If passed on a final vote today, the measure will be returned to the Senate.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, Phelps’ daughter, promised a lawsuit over the 300-yard restriction.

“The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken on this issue and they can’t put us out of sight and sound of our targeted audience,” she said. “If they don’t like what they see, they need to drink a frosty mug of shut-the-hell-up and avert their eyes.”

The House version departed from the Senate plan, which also forbids protests within 300 feet of the service for the same period. Because of concerns about freedom-of-speech issues, the Senate exempted from the buffer zone streets, sidewalks and other public spaces, but the House struck that language.

As to whether the bill can pass constitutional muster, Rep. Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, said, “I’m willing to try it.”

Current state law says only that it’s illegal to picket “before or about” a funeral service.

While the measure doesn’t single out Phelps or his followers at the independent Westboro Baptist Church, it was prompted by recent protests by them at soldiers’ funerals around the nation.

Phelps and his followers contend the deaths are God’s vengeance for the U.S. harboring homosexuals. For years, Phelps and his followers protested funerals of AIDS victims, but now have shifted to soldiers.

Kansas is among 21 states this year working on legislation to restrict protest activities around funerals. Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin this year put such laws on the books.

While some lawmakers expressed concerns about whether the measure can withstand a court challenge, Rep. Mike Peterson, D-Kansas City, said that shouldn’t be an issue.

“What these people do is a gross obscenity and we’d be remiss if we don’t take a stand,” Peterson said. “The public good embodied in this bill outweighs whatever might happen in court.”

Rep. Don Dahl said the bill is in keeping with Supreme Court rulings.

“A decent civilized society must protect individuals experiencing some of the darkest hours of their lives,” said Dahl, R-Hillsboro.

Earlier this month, the Senate approved a nonbinding resolution declaring what Phelps and his following do as “extremely egregious and offensive.”