TPMMuckraker

Westboro Baptist Church To Picket Elizabeth Edwards Funeral

A member of the Westboro Baptist Church protests at a military funeral.

A Kansas-based church known for its high-profile protests of service members’ funerals is planning to show up at the memorial service for the late Elizabeth Edwards, the group said Thursday.

The Westboro Baptist Church’s website said the group will hold a protest on Saturday from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. at a memorial for the Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Senator and 2004 vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Edwards, a lawyer and health care advocate, died Tuesday after a six-year battle with breast cancer.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Elizabeth Edwards 1949-2010]

“They coveted things that were not theirs  - and presumptuously thought they could control God,” the Westboro Baptists said in a news release. The church also said Edwards “meddled in matters of the womb,” an apparent reference to fertility treatments she reportedly received to conceive her two youngest children. The WBC also apparently took issue with Elizabeth Edwards’ books and her struggles with her own faith after the death of her 16-year-old son, Wade, and her own cancer diagnosis.

The fringe church is monitored by anti-hate groups like the Anti-Defamation league and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

(Ed. note: this story has been updated. H/T CNN)

Top Stories From TPM

Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn Will Seek To Offset Tornado Aid

Secret Service Looking Into Radio Host’s Graphic Violent Comments About Obama, Hillary Clinton

GOP Nominee In Virginia Praised Three-Fifths Clause As An ‘Anti-Slavery Amendment’

VA GOP's Attorney General Nominee Wanted Women To Report Miscarriages To Police Or Face Jail Time

Federal Judge Smacks Arpaio In Racial Profiling Case

The NRA Thinks These Are The ‘Coolest Gun Movies’ Ever

Disqus Conversations

Click here to read the Disqus Commenting FAQ.

Editor & Publisher

Josh Marshall

Managing Editor

David Kurtz

Associate Editor

Nick Martin

Assistant Editor

Igor Bobic

Reporters

Brian Beutler

Sahil Kapur

Eric Lach

Hunter Walker

Frontpage Editor

Zoë Schlanger

News Writers

Tom Kludt

Video Editor

Michael Lester

General Manager & General Counsel

Millet Israeli

VP, Ad Sales

Bruce Ellerstein

Associate Publisher

Kyle Leighton

Assistant To The Publisher

Joe Ragazzo

Designer/Developer

Matthew Wozniak

Design Associate

Christopher O’Driscoll