Teen Times: Forget, for a moment, if you can, that the third world war isn't brewing over in the Middle East, and let me turn your attention to a war that's brewing closer to home and has been for some time. No, not that war, another war. The war on abortion.

So, which side are you on? Are you a pro-lifer, who believes that life is sacred and that killing someone, no matter whether they are born or not, is just wrong? Or are you, like me, a pro-choicer, who believe that it's the woman's body, therefore she should get to decide what she does and does not do with it, and that the choice should be there, even if you don't use it? So, go on, tell us. Which side are you on?

What really annoys me about this whole debate is that certain people (not looking in anyone's direction of course) think they've got this all figured out, that they already know what's best for women like myself and that they've figured out all this stuff on their own. Now, short of reading people's minds (if you have figured this out, do please tell me) to figure out what women really want, I can't quite understand how they've achieved this. Anyway, these people seem to have figured out what we women think, which is "abortion is definitely bad".

If you were to read my mind, all you'd find out is my eternal struggle between deciding whether or not having another cup of coffee is bad for me. Not exactly "abortion is bad", now is it?

Humour me here for a minute, and turn your attention to Ferraris. Just because you are able to buy a Ferrari does not mean that you run down to your nearest dealer on pay day and buy one. You can, but you don't. The same thing goes for abortions. Just because you can avail of one does not mean you will. And just like the number of people who do actually buy a Ferrari is quite low, so is the number of people who do actually have an abortion.

But let's just pretend that the service is available. Isn't it right that it should be available for everyone, not just a select few, who these "people" decide are worthy enough to avail of one? Unless I missed a memo along the way, I was under the impression that everyone was created equal, and short of creating a different class system, we must all obey the same rules. No "one rule for you, another for everyone else" operation here, thank you very much.

So, which are you? Pro-lifer? Or pro-choicer? Whichever you are, the other will see you as the enemy and in bed with Osama Bin Laden or whoever Bad Guy of The Week is this week. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to decide. After all, this is a debate that will run and run.

As for the third world war, maybe it'll blow itself out.

Ashling Bolger (17) is a student of Scoil Mhuire, Wellington Road, Cork

500-word articles are welcome from teenagers to teentimes@irish-times.ie. Please include a phone number