I realize that in the eyes of the law, someone who is under 18 is considered to be a child and a dependent of their parents. However, I think the right to have an abortion is a very private issue for the individual considering it. And whether or not the person is a minor, it is still their body, not their parents body. Legislation like this is pushed by the Christian-right/Abstinence-only crowd who can't seem to fathom the concept that teenagers can, do, and will not stop, having sex. (I imagine that many teens in New Hampshire have sex on a regular basis, there really isn't much to do up there.) These are the same people who do not want people to have condoms and birth control as options in their sexual life, they agree with everything people like Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum have to say and would like to make it illegal to have sex out of wedlock; and they harbor the hypocritical notion that all life is sacred, yet they don't give a shit about an unwanted child after it is born. These people usually support war and the death penalty, I might add.

We live in a hypocritical society, where persons under 18 are considered minors, and the bill in the New Hampshire legislature wants to continue that tradition. Yet all across America, citizens are calling for teenagers heads if they commit a crime. Time and time again, teenagers are being tried and convicted as adults, under laws that would were intended to only be applied to adults. In the case that involves a woman's body, the deeply personal and private decision of abortion, should we continue to treat teenagers as minors who need their parents permission? This is perhaps the most adult decision they will ever make in their lives, and the same rights an adult has should be provided to teenagers in this case.