CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The New Hampshire House on Thursday approved creating a new medal to honor the state’s war dead, and to shield their funerals from protests.

The state’s Medal of Honor would go the family of a New Hampshire military member killed in the line of duty.

The same bill also would ban protests at funerals. The ban was prompted by a protest at a New Hampshire military funeral in April by a Kansas-based group. The bill would ban protests within 150 feet of the road entrance and 300 feet from a cemetery, from an hour before to an hour after a funeral.

“This bill protects the sanctuary of a military member’s final resting place. When someone loses somebody, it can’t be about politics,” said Rep. Kris Roberts, a Keene Democrat and Marine Corps veteran who added the protest ban to the bill. “People need the time to say their last goodbye,” he said.

AP-ES-06-07-07 1456EDT