Twitter users are raising eyebrows over a 1990s article by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz that surfaced Monday. The article has led to the hashtag #creepydershowitz which is now trending on the social media platform.

Dershowitz stands by his previous argument, which he shared Monday on Twitter. Simply, for him, it’s about upholding the constitution and not about making a ‘moral argument.’

In the column, Dershowitz argued for the constitutionality of lowering the age of consent in the U.S. He pointed out that it actually varied by state at the time. Some states even placed the consent age as young as 14.

The National Survey for Family Growth, at the time, found women were having sex in their mid-late teens, and one quarter of them said they became sexually active before the age of 15. Statutory rape cases, 99 percent of them, were overwhelmingly going un-prosecuted. Under the constitution, Dershowitz argued that the abortion age be consistent with the age of consent. His argument: abortion is a “tragic choice”, while the other is merely a preference.

I stand by the constitutional (not moral) argument I offered in my controversial oped: if a 16 year old has the constitutional right to have an abortion without state or parental interference, how could she not have the constitutional right to engage in consensual sex? 1/ https://t.co/48Thb8Uaym — Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) July 29, 2019

I challenge my readers to distinguish the cases, as a matter of constitutional law. I did not suggest that it is moral to have sex with a 16 year old, but rather that the issue presents a constitutional conundrum worthy of discussion. 2/ — Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) July 29, 2019