First, in no way did the 16 year old 'have' to have sex with the guy. You don't get pregnant by accident. Many people don't understand this, but you need to draw the line somewhere. Nature drew this line for us, and you can't blur it: you have sex, you have an approximately 30% chance of getting pregnant ( think thats the number). People need to grow up and take responsibility; the sooner this happens the better.
Phew, that's a hard stance you take there, Cheeseburger. Of course, nobody has to have sex (unless we're talking about rape and that's a different story altogether) but have you never been young and done something you later regretted? It happens all the time and thank God most of us get lucky and walk away with a black eye and hopefully a lesson learned.

Now, you really want to hold minors fully responsible and force them to go through their pregnancy and have a baby? They wouldn't even be judged that hard when committing a crime! They're young and made a mistake and they'll have to pay for it anyway...or do you think it's an easy decision to live with when you have an abortion? I don't think so.

Yes, nature drew a line for us...and if you really want to follow this line of thought, you'd have to question laws that don't allow teenagers under a certain age line to have sex with partners that are older - nature would speak against that if girls start getting their period at 11, 12 yrs of age they can have sex and get pregnant and according to 'nature' there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, no matter how old their partner is. Nature doesn't put up moral or ethical lines, society does.

I do agree with you, though, when you say that in general we should grow up and be held accountable for the choices we make...when we're adults and the protection time is over. Being held accountable - to me - is about really thinking every option through carefully, gathering information, getting counselling or advice from people who know what those options will lead to, probing their conscience. And THEN make a decision and live with it. I don't think people will make that decision easily that way...be it pro or contra abortion.

Just my thoughts on this...