(Radio Iowa) – A bill under consideration in the Iowa House would make it a felony to intentionally disrupt a religious service. Republican Representative Carter Nordman of Dallas Center says filed the bill after a protest inside a Minnesota church where a pastor works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Everyone has a right to protest. Everyone has their first amendments protected,” Nordman said, “but we’re not going to have you intimidating children and women in church services to try to get your point across. It’s inappropriate.” Making people at a religious service feel unsafe, blocking entrances or creating persistent or unreasonable noise would be a state crime if the bill becomes law.

A person convicted of interference with a religious service could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. Representative Monica Kurth, a Democrat from Davenport, voted against the bill. She says current law allows a wide range of penalties for a church disturbance.”A judge could use his or her discretion in determining the penalty,” Kurth said, “so I think that’s adequate.”

The U-S Justice Department has filed charges against over 30 people accused of disrupting the Minnesota church service in January.