You have to be 21 to drink alcohol or buy a pistol. 18 to: smoke, buy a rifle, join the military, drive a car, or get married. There is no parental consent to give a 15 year old a beer, it is against the law, contributing to delinquency of a minor.

The author argues "The more profoundly a decision affects a girl's future, the more vital it is that no one, even her parents, be authorized to veto it."

I hate to inform the author but the law as they are have the exact opposite philosophy. By Saletan's logic a 10 year old should be able to buy a pistol and alcohol because an inanimate object has less impact on ones life than abortion.

In Texas and several other states, it is legal for a parent to give their child alcohol, as long as the parent orders/purchases it, receives it, gives it to the minor, and stays in the minor's presence. So yes, there is parental consent to give a 15-yr-old a beer.

And you got the logic backwards- Saletan's logic is that because it is less impactful to buy a gun than to have an abortion, the abortion should be allowed and the gun can be restricted.

ie- not being able to purchase a gun is likely to have a less traumatic effect on a teen's life than not being able to have an abortion

And, as has been argued by various presidents and regents of sundry Ivy League colleges, the 21 drinking age is an absolute travesty forced through by a neo-prohibitionist pressure group discredited by its own founder.

Yes, studies say lowering the drinking age would cause more harm but none of these studies address the fairness issue.

To address the fairness issue anyone under 21 shouldn't be able to enter into contracts, join the armed forces or make other decisions.

If one is mature enough to know how to drink until 21 than one isn't mature enough to sign a contract.

I think there should be a law that abortion or adoption are a pregnant teen's only choices. That would stop all the girls who have babies to get money from the government, which happens more than a lot of people would like to admit.

You know like the ones that allow people to NOT have to have auto insurance.

Yes the goal should be to reduce dependency on the state. IF that means more abortions than so be it.

Hey jazzguitarman you are a moron with more mouth than brains. Get a life or maybe not just abort it.