William F. Buckley Jr.

In the mid-1990s, several pregnant teen girls and their boyfriends in Idaho were arrested and convicted of fornication—a little-known and rarely enforced law that prohibits unmarried people from having sex—and statutory rape, which prohibits sex with minors under a specified age. In the following viewpoint, William F. Buckley Jr. maintains that society is right to enforce such laws against unwed teen mothers and fathers because their babies exact high costs on society; their children are more likely to be poorly educated, take drugs, go to prison, or be on welfare, he asserts. Enforcing these laws against teens who engage in sex may prevent other teen pregnancies, Buckley contends. Buckley is president and editor of the National Review and a syndicated columnist.

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