While we should leave the poor girl alone, hopefully the story of an evangelical's 17-year-old pregnant daughter should bring the issues of sex education to the stage.
As a teenage female with parents who have Victorian ideas about sexuality, I feel for Bristol. I can imagine that for Bristol, a conversation about using birth control, condoms, or sexuality would have been met with hostilities from her mother. This scenario is all too plausible: a young girl without access to adequate birth control is having sex using a condom for protection The condom breaks, and once that happens there's nothing Bristol can do other than pray that a pregnancy doesn't result. An abortion is out of the question, and morning after pills can't be purchased by those who are underage.
I'm sure that getting an abortion is an emotionally difficult procedure, and I'd like to see that abortions are safe, legal, and rare. To make teenage and unwanted pregnancies as rare as possible, adequate education is needed. All I remember from sex ed (besides basic anatomy) was watching a video in middle school about children who had been conceived while their parents were on birth control. In church I signed a virginity pledge at the age of 11. Through my church, my family, and my school, sex was seen as scary and taboo until I reached my later teenage years. But if I ever wanted to ask questions, none of these places would give me answers. To this day, these channels are still closed.
So what about Bristol? I can imagine that there was no way in hell she could talk to her mother about sex. There was no way she could protect herself adequately, but she gave into the all-too-human urges like all too many teenagers do. Some get lucky and avoid pregnancies, but some aren't that fortunate.
Abstinence-only education fails. Conversation is needed. Steer the conversation away from Bristol and to the need for adequate sex ed in our schools.