I am angry and highly offended by Gov. Tom Wolf’s change to the Pennsylvania birth certificate. Wolf has stripped away my title as a mother and my rights as a voter. Being governor does not give him the absolute power to make changes without the approval of the General Assembly.

I have nothing against the LBGT community, but changing the birth certificate so as not to offend them is ludicrous. Even if birth certificates said male and female instead of mother and father, there is no sane reason anyone should be offended by it. Without both sexes, there would be no human race. The new birth certificate takes away the gender of the only person who can give birth to a baby — the woman, the mother.

Sabrina Schnur’s comment (“Opinions differ on birth certificates,” Jan. 16) about protecting mothers is unfounded. The mother, if not married or in a relationship and regardless of the circumstances, has the option of listing the father as unknown or leaving the space blank. A child has every right to know who their father is, if not for their own sake then for medical reasons where heredity is a key factor in certain diseases, but the father’s name is not required.

The LBGT community has fought a lot of battles to be recognized for who they are, and I understand and applaud how hard they fight for their rights. What I question is why they believe it’s OK to take away from me my right as a woman and mother. Neither Gov. Wolf nor the LBGT community have my support on this one.

If you want a “special” birth certificate stating you are nonsexual, asexual, homosexual, bisexual, then fine. If you want your adoption papers to read the same, go for it. Have it all drawn up legally by a lawyer paid for out of your own pocket, but quit using my tax dollars to strip away my rights, my femininity, and the many months of sickness and hours of labor that earned me the title of mother.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe has my support to put an end to Wolf’s abuse of power and misuse of our tax dollars. He is one of the many reasons my voter registration card now says Republican.