Supreme Court Will Not Review Men-Only Draft Registration Law
July 07, 2021
On June 7th, the Supreme Court announced it is up to Congress on deciding whether to change the draft registration law requiring only men to register for the draft. It’s one of the few areas of federal law where men and women are still treated differently.
In recent years, bills to require women to register for the draft have been proposed but not moved forward. However, just last year, the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service concluded that the time was right to extend the obligation to women in their “Inspired to Serve” final report.
The question of whether it’s unconstitutional to require only men to register could be viewed as one with little impact. The last draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since. But women’s groups argue that allowing the male-only requirement to remain is harmful.
Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project, said that only requiring men to register imposes a “serious burden on men that’s not being imposed on women.”
Men who do not register can lose eligibility for student loans and civil service jobs and failing to register is a felony punishable by up to $250,000 and five years in prison. But Tabacco Mar would go on to mention that the draft registration law sends a tremendously harmful message that women are less fit than men to serve their country.
Although it seems this policy will stay in place forever, hope remains alive. In 2013, the Defense Department lifted the ban on women serving in combat. In 2015, the department said all military positions would be open to women without exception. The military is capable of changing policy, it’s just a matter of who initiates and drives that change.
Veterans Radio – Selective Service and Registering Women
In June 2020, Navy Lieutenant Commander Eric Fretz (ret.) joined Veterans Radio Podcasts to discuss selective service, registering women in the draft, and the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service report before the Senate Armed Services Committee that was finalized in March 2020.
In their final report, the commission recommended that women be registered by selective service in case Congress authorized a draft. Inspired to Serve offers a bold vision and comprehensive plan to improve all forms of service, address domestic and security needs, invigorate civil society, and strengthen our democracy. Fretz discusses these issues with Host Jim Fausone.