In which I reveal myself to be heartless

The Catholic blogosphere was heated up a while ago about some reality show following the lives of pregnant teens. One of these girls, having had one baby, got pregnant again and had an abortion. The take on the Catholic blogosphere was that the girl's erratic behaviour during the episode was a strong indication that having an abortion has hurt her.

Maybe. On the other hand, she may forget all about it and be just fine in two weeks. Short term emotions mean nothing. Think of the millions of people who've vowed to love no other, to never forget, to change their lives. What you feel "inside" is utterly insignificant; what matters is what your actions make you become. The parent who gets out of bed and takes care of their child at three in the morning, loves that child even if they feel deep resentment and anger "inside" every second they are up.

In any case, even if some women are terribly upset by having abortions, lots of others aren't.

The thing that jumped out at me, however, and doesn't seem to have upset others nearly so much, was this:

Having missed an appointment for an injection of the birth-control shot Depo Provera, Markai found herself pregnant for a second time.

That's not from some liberal but from a conservative Catholic named Kathryn Jean Lopez. What a casual way to describe a major moral failure. You can hate me for this if you want, but I read that and thought, "She missed her injection and she couldn't say no to sex until she had time to reschedule?! Seriously?!

I'm sorry, I cannot join Lopez in thinking this teenager a victim. She's weak to be certain but many of the most dangerous people are weak. Telling her she is a victim only makes her more dangerous to herself and others. Virtue is strength. The weak person can never be a good person.