Yet when the Supreme Court was asked in to overturn the men-only Selective Service requirement, it declined to do so. But in the four decades since, the ban on women in combat has gone by the wayside. All remaining gender-based restrictions on military service were lifted in Since the s, hundreds of thousands of American women have deployed to the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In the past 20 years, nearly US servicewomen women have died in combat and over 1, have been wounded in action.
Which is why the ACLU and the National Coalition for Men launched a fresh round of litigation a few years ago, arguing that the male-only draft requirement was no longer defensible and had to go.
The continuing exclusion of women from draft registration — or, to word it differently, the continuing imposition of that burden on men alone — may well be important as a matter of principle. But in practical terms, it makes essentially no difference.
The last time anyone was prosecuted for failing to register, Ronald Reagan was in the White House. And complying with the law exacts a trivial burden: It took just three minutes for my son to register online. As is typical, it gave no official reason for its decision. But three justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, and Brett Kavanaugh issued their own statement , saying that the matter was best left to Congress.
Richard Kohn, professor emeritus of History and Peace, War and Defense at the University of North Carolina, says the US can't expect to have a first-rate fighting force if half the population is excluded. The draft's most recent incarnation came into being in September , when Congress passed the Burke-Wadsworth Act, which imposed the first peacetime draft in US history.
It ended in when the US armed forces became all-volunteer, and from to men were not required to register with the Selective Service. He also asked Congress to allow women to register. Lawmakers rejected the idea. A Supreme Court ruling upheld the men-only draft registration system. But the issue kept bubbling away across the decades and recently the courts have weighed in.
In a Texas district judge ruled that while historical restrictions on women serving in combat "may have justified past discrimination," the fact that men and women are now equally able to fight renders the men-only draft system unconstitutional. In New Jersey, a district judge is considering a case brought by a year-old New Jersey woman who twice tried to register for Selective Service.
Among the general public, the majority of men and women support women serving in combat roles. But opinion about women being drafted appears sharply divided along gender lines. That said, both men and women are not keen about the draft in general.
Some believe registering women on the same basis as men would recognise both genders have equal rights and responsibilities in society. Draft expansion advocates also say it could encourage more women to consider the military a suitable career. In , Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she supported all genders being drafted as long as a draft existed.
But there are also feminists who believe the entire militarist system is a social evil that ought to be dismantled. Women and children suffer disproportionately through war around the globe. One's equality shouldn't be based on acquiescence, submission to the military.
She notes people have often defended the Selective Service by saying "it's just registration"- skirting the reality that it is ultimately about mobilising for war and body bags coming back. Currently you can be registered simply through ticking a box online when applying for a student loan.
But the commission has been more candid about the potential implications of registration and is considering making it a more formal and less passive process. In , the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the ban on women in combat, one of two cases that led the Department of Defense to lift the ban. Now that women are eligible to serve in combat roles, the sole justification for men-only registration has evaporated into thin air. This vital work depends on the support of ACLU members in all 50 states and beyond.
Contributions to the ACLU are not tax deductible. Skip navigation. Federal advocacy Our work with law and policy makers to ensure necessary statutes exist to protect our civil rights. Know your rights Do you know your rights?
Supreme Court to end this practice. Share This Page. We need you with us to keep fighting — donate today. More Ways to Give.
0コメント