TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – In sight from Marge Phelps’ home are the flags waving in distress above Westboro Baptist Church, where she and her family plan protests denounced as tasteless and hateful. A banner spreading the message that “God Hates America” is seen from the front steps.

And tacked to a bulletin board on a wall in her small home office is what she says allows the church led by her father, the Rev. Fred Phelps, to force its message on outsiders regardless of the place – the words of the First Amendment.

Lawmakers across the country have declared war on Phelps, and the several dozen others who make up Westboro Baptist, through bills setting limits on their protests outside soldiers’ funerals. But many defenders of the First Amendment say the laws go too far in silencing the words of the protesters simply because most of the world finds them disgusting.

“Americans, under the First Amendment, will hear messages they don’t want to hear. The First Amendment is designed to protect speech Americans may not want to be exposed to,” said Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center. “That’s the strength of our society – everyone can express their idea.”

Lawmakers have united around the issue, appeasing those whose loved ones were targets of Westboro protests and countless others. Many believe it’s a smart political choice in an election year.

“Introducing such a policy – or voting for it, if it came to a vote – would seem the electorally prudent course to pursue,” said Bruce Stinebrickner, chair of the DePauw University political science department in Greencastle, Ind. “In election years in particular, elected politicians try to do the electorally prudent thing.”

And, regardless of politics, many seem to agree that curtailing free speech rights is appropriate in order to give grieving families adequate privacy to hold funeral services.

“Such a lack of common decency should not be protected by law but punishable by the law,” said Brandy Sacco of Topeka, whose husband, Sgt. Dominic Sacco, was killed last year.

David Greene, executive director of the First Amendment Project, said the government has set restrictions on free speech numerous times in the past, through laws on libel, pornography, noise and numerous other issues. The problem, he said, is when lawmakers appear to try to limit only speech that is critical, such as Westboro’s anti-military protests.

“I think the free speech concerns in this situation are so obvious I can’t imagine anyone is saying they aren’t there,” Greene said. “Where this becomes difficult is attempting to say that some types of speech are OK and others are not.”

All of Pastor Phelps’ children who remain in the church have law degrees, as do several other members, and they have vowed to fight any bills they believe unfairly restrict their speech.

“It’s junk law and they know it. But they’re in a rage and they don’t care. They will trash the entire democracy in the name of worshipping those dead bodies and that flag,” said Marge Phelps. “And by trying to shut us up they exponentially increased the attention on the message.”

David Hudson Jr., a research attorney at the First Amendment Center, said it’s hard to say how courts would decide the funeral picketing issue. The state laws vary and he said he could see different courts coming to different conclusions on the same legislation.

“They all present some kind of constitutional concerns,” he said.

Steve Simpson, an attorney for the Washington-based libertarian advocacy group Institute for Justice, said the new protesting restrictions, like laws on issues as wide-ranging as campaign finance and flag burning, are part of a wave of curtailments to First Amendment rights.

“The idea is that free speech in general is under attack across the country,” Simpson said. “These laws are really directed at speech that somebody disagrees with and that’s the worst kind of restriction you can get.”

David Willard – who had a memorial service for his son Bryan, a Marine killed in February, targeted by Westboro – said there must be a balance between free speech and the ability of families to mourn in private.

“My son gave his life, as well as a lot of other people, for the ability of these idiots to give the expression of their opinion,” said Willard, a 61-year-old Enola, Pa., resident. “They’re entitled to it, but I don’t think they’re entitled to it at a private service. There need to be some boundaries and some distance.”

Marge Phelps said she expected the issue to land before the U.S. Supreme Court, but said ultimately it doesn’t matter.

“By this time next year, picketing funerals of dead soldiers will be last year’s issue and something else is going to come along,” she said.

Already, the Westboro protesters have begun to shift their focus, showing up outside veterans hospitals. They did so recently at a 405-bed facility in Des Moines, Iowa.

Nine picketers held signs, including ones that read “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “Fag Vets.” Some giggled as they gathered for a family picture. And almost out of sight, above the entrance to the red brick building, where wounded soldiers lay, were the words “The Price of Freedom is Visible Here.”