Via Shakespeare’s Sister, we learn of an Ohio State Senator who has discovered the power of satire as a legislative tool:

Lawmaker’s proposal: Bar Republicans from adopting

If an Ohio lawmaker’s proposal becomes state law, Republicans would be barred from being adoptive parents.

State Sen. Robert Hagan sent out e-mails to fellow lawmakers late Wednesday night, stating that he intends to "introduce legislation in the near future that would ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children or acting as foster parents." The e-mail ended with a request for co-sponsorship…

Hagan said his "tongue was planted firmly in cheek" when he drafted the proposed legislation. However, Hagan said that the point he is trying to make is nonetheless very serious…

To further lampoon Hood’s bill, Hagan wrote in his mock proposal that "credible research" shows that adopted children raised in Republican households are more at risk for developing "emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, and alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities."

However, Hagan admitted that he has no scientific evidence to support the above claims.

Just as "Hood had no scientific evidence" to back his assertion that having gay parents was detrimental to children, Hagan said.

I’m sure many on the right will see this as "unhinged" and "ludicrous" without understanding the Senator’s whole point is that discrimination based on bogus scientific evidence really is ludicrous.

The interesting thing is that there is evidence showing that divorce rates are 27% higher in red states than in blue states.  Couple that with the conventional wisdom among conservatives that kids raised in "broken homes" and/or non-nuclear families are more screwed up than June and Ward Cleaver’s kids, and Hagan may actually have a "scientific" leg to stand on.