Remember that a few weeks ago the State Department said it would be changing U.S. passport applications (and Consular Record of Birth Abroad (CRBA) forms) to say “Mother or Parent 1″ and “Father or Parent 2” instead of just “Mother” and “Father”?

In response to State’s actions,  Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) has introduced a bill that would require federal agencies to use only “mother” and “father” in all official forms. In a press release, Forbes called the Parent1/Parent2 change, “a bureaucratic attempt to redefine traditional parent roles.”

His bill does not just require the addition of Mother/Father to all forms—it explicitly prohibits the use of Parent 1/Parent 2. Here’s the key passage from the bill itself:

Each Federal agency, contractor (or subcontractor at any tier) pursuant to a contract with such agency, or government-sponsored enterprise shall use the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ when describing parents, and not the words ‘parent 1′ or ‘parent 2′ (or other similar words), in all official documents issued by the agency, contractor, or enterprise.

I’m not a politician or a lawyer, but I’m concerned that the words “government-sponsored enterprise” could also be interpreted to mean that organizations such as hospitals receiving Medicare/Medicaid funds would also be banned from using Parent 1/Parent 2 on their forms. And what about schools receiving any funds from the U.S. Department of Education? Government contractors, too, include a wide range of private businesses. We’re not just talking passport applications here.

Let’s hope this piece of nonsense dies a quiet death.