The draft for women just became more likely

Reposting from 2015

On Thursday, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that the Pentagon will open all military combat roles to women. Finally, women are eligible to do any job a man can do in the military. Young girls, their mothers and women’s rights advocates cheered.

On Friday, the White House announced that given the Secretary of Defense’s decision, it needs to review whether women should now be eligible for (read: forced into) Selective Service, aka “the draft,” as well. A collective, “Wait, what?” was heard throughout social media.

I wrote about women and the draft a couple times this fall, once it occurred to me that my three sons will be forced to register for Selective Service when they turn 18. If they don’t, they face fines, jail time and ineligibility for federal student loans and grant programs. So even though an active draft that forces men into service has not been enacted since the 1970s, the penalties for not registering are very much still in effect today, and they don’t yet apply to women.

Since the draft’s inception, women have not been required to register. The legal basis for this largely rested on the fact that women were not eligible for combat positions anyway. All of that changed overnight with the Pentagon’s decision, which of course created an immediate, new legal problem: now women have access to all the same positions that men do, but under current Selective Service laws, they do not face the same requirements or burdens.

It’s an interesting dilemma for anyone who thinks there is a War on Women, and judging by the feedback I received from my first two columns, many women are not too happy about me, a woman, pointing that out. But we can’t have it both ways. We can’t say that the system is working against us, when all this time, the “system” has partially been saving us from some of the unpleasantness — like Selective Service — of being male. And if we want full equality with men, we have to accept everything it brings.

It’s also an interesting dilemma for anyone who strongly believes in a woman’s right to choose. If the laws regarding Selective Service change to include women, females are about to be forced into the greatest lack-of-choice scenario: the ability to decide whether one wants to join a war and possibly lose one’s life for our country.

However, what considering women in the draft does most prominently is highlight injustices that men have quietly accepted all along. For instance, after my first column ran, a reader replied that not all women are cut out for the military, and just because a few want to be in combat doesn’t mean we all do.

Can’t the same be said about men?

Someone else said that it would be harder to lose the nation’s girls because human reproduction, and therefore the survival of the nation, is more dependent upon them. This might be biologically true, but arguing the point will send many progressives right back to the 1950s. Which side will they be on — the side that states women are in fact different from men, or the side that says we are all equal and women should be forced to die for their country, too?

Also, try telling the mother of a son that her child would be easier to lose.

Some will argue that women need to stay home to take care of babies and raise families, though they won’t want the same argument to apply to civilian work situations.

Some will say that not all women are physically equipped for combat, but they will assume that most men are.

Some will say that we can’t draft both men and women, because what if a husband and wife from the same family are forced into service through the draft? It’s a very real consideration. But at this point in our evolution, how can we automatically assume, through legislation, that it’s the man’s job to go?

Of course, all of this might be for nothing. If we look at the state of today’s millennials, with their micro-aggressions and need for “safe spaces,” I’m not even sure how our government could pull off an active draft — for either gender.

In case it wasn’t clear before or now: I am not in favor of compulsory Selective Service registration for men or women, despite my family’s long tradition of military service. But for years, no one cared to take up this fight. So I look forward to the possibility of women being considered for the draft, if only because of this: Hell hath no fury like women who think they are facing an injustice. While men have accepted Selective Service for generations, we women have proven that, above all else, we like to have choice.

Questions and answers About Women and the draft

Last week’s column (link) about women and the draft, and specifically readers’ responses to it, raised many questions. I answer them below.

• There’s still a draft?

I was amazed by the amount of people – mostly young mothers with sons – who were not aware that the United States still requires men ages 18-25 to register for Selective Service. To review: Selective Service is essentially the government’s Plan B for a major disaster and a nicer way of saying “the draft.”

An active draft, in which the government forces men into service for the country, has not been implemented since the 1970s. So, yes, worrying about Selective Service is based on multiple hypotheticals and “what ifs.” However, the consequences for men who do not register for Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday are definitely not hypothetical, and, yes, the government does follow-up.

At the very least, an unregistered male cannot work for the government and loses eligibility for financial aid. At worst, unregistered men can be sentenced to up to five years in prison or a fine of no more than $250,000.

Therefore, in a hypothetical, what-if world, Selective Service is not fair and equitable because women would not be drafted during a national emergency. But in a very real sense today, men are subjected to consequences for non-registration, and women are not, even though by 2016 women will have full integration in the military.

• You’re a woman, so why are you against women?

Selective Service for men has largely gone unnoticed, even while women have fought for equality in all other aspects of society. We have said — and proved — that “women can do anything men can do.” Now we have to be willing to accept all the responsibility that equality brings.

As our society moves toward becoming more gender neutral, even at Target, the burdens that men have always shouldered should now become women’s, too. That’s equality.

Through Selective Service, our government operates on the idea that an unwilling male soldier is better than even a willing female one. Are feminists really okay with this?

• So you’re in favor of Selective Service?

Actually, I’m not.

• So why do you want to force our daughters to do something that you don’t even want your sons to do?

Selective Service goes under the radar because society and lawmakers are not ready to deal with the issue of drafting women. It’s a political no-win. Asking the question alone creates all sorts of problems for the “war on women” argument.

Basically, we’ve been so busy giving women access to the military, we’ve ignored the unintended consequences. Once women are included in the discussion about Selective Service, the inequalities in it for men become more apparent.

Each time someone argues why women shouldn’t be included in the draft (“we need them to procreate,” “some women don’t want to join the military,” “not every woman is cut out for combat,” etc.), it becomes more obvious — again, in our gender-neutral society — that maybe men shouldn’t be either.

After all, not every man is cut out for combat either.

Once lawmakers have to consider women for Selective Service, they will be forced to do away with this law altogether. Once lawmakers have to consider drafting their daughters — daughters who have individual feelings about serving in combat — I think they will realize that our best defense remains an all-volunteer, professional military.

• You’d think differently if you had girls. You’re just bitter towards moms who have daughters, aren’t you?

It’s true that I have three sons and no daughters. During a recent dinner-table conversation about the draft, I received very different reactions from them: one said he couldn’t wait to register, one said he didn’t want to do it and one cried.

I imagine that if you have all daughters, you children’s responses would be just as varied.

That’s the point.

I also imagine mothers of daughters would feel the same pit in their stomach if they had to imagine one of their daughters being drafted against her will, knowing she was terrified.

That’s also the point.

• But is a draft really likely anyway?

We live in a child-centric society. We have gone to enormous and sometimes ridiculous lengths to protect our children. Children have never been so cherished, protected and documented.They are celebrated with elaborate birthday parties and participation trophies. They are coddled at universities.

All of the above is why Selective Service is an unpopular topic with lawmakers.

But it sure makes you think about the thousands of mothers who watched their sons — some scared beyond belief — head off to war in generations past, doesn’t it?

Coincidentally, at the exact moment I was writing last week’s column, the Secretary of the Army was telling leaders in Washington that it’s time to consider women for the draft. So this isn’t as hypothetical as we had hoped.

• So are you anti-military?

My husband is, and father and grandfathers were, in the military — by choice. If any of my sons join, I want it to be by his choice as well.

The Draft: Why my sons, not your daughters?

If the words “Selective Service System” don’t ring a bell for you, it might be because you’re female. Maybe you have all daughters, too. For American boys and young men, however, “Selective Service” means “the draft,” and, yes, they still have to sign up for it.

I am a woman, so theoretically the draft should not keep me up at night. But I have three sons who will be 18 faster than I care to think about, and their loss of choice in this matter is something I’ve lost sleep over, even though both my dad and husband chose to serve.

And here’s the thing: No one talks about Selective Service — at all. Most people don’t even know it exists. So let me explain.

The draft ended in January 1973, but seven years later, during the height of the Cold War, President Jimmy Carter reinstated Selective Service registration for all American men ages 18-25. Within 30 days of a boy’s 18th birthday, he is required by law to register with the Selective Service so that the government will know his whereabouts should we ever need an active draft again. The penalty for not registering is up to five years in prison or a $250,000 fine.

That’s right: Your son — and even you (for aiding his crime) — can go to jail if he does not register for the Selective Service within 30 days of becoming an adult. Yet even in the likely event that that doesn’t happen, he still can’t apply for government jobs or financial aid for college unless he is registered.

In case these first paragraphs had you wondering what country you live in, you are not alone. President Ronald Reagan was opposed to Selective Service, and during a presidential debate in 1979 he said that the law requiring registration “rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state. … That assumption isn’t a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea.”

But it’s not your “kids” who belong to the state; it’s just your boys. Even though women have fought for and earned the right to serve in combat positions in the U.S. military, America’s girls are not forced to register with Selective Service.

I like to picture our government wiping its imaginary brow over the fact that the Selective Service System and its website, www.sss.gov, don’t get much attention. Because if they did, people surely would have their hairs on end over the idea of this process and the language surrounding it. The webpage reads like something out of the 1950s with gems like, “Registration: It’s What a Man’s Got to Do.”

The website also dances around the fact that women are not forced to register, even though it clearly explains its position on transgenders: If you were born a female and later became a man, you do not have to register. If you were born a male and later became a woman, you do have to register.

And what if you have only one son to carry on the family name, so, you know, you’d like him to live? The SSS has an answer for that, too: “Contrary to popular belief ‘only sons,’ ‘the last son to carry the family name,’ and ‘sole surviving sons’ must still register with the Selective Service System and they can be drafted.”

Read that last part again: “they can be drafted.”

Don’t worry, your daughters are still safe. They can choose to serve or not. In fact, even if your son is disabled and in a wheelchair, he must register. But America’s healthiest daughters do not.

If you’re wondering how this law exists in the U.S.A., the website offers this: “By registering all eligible men, Selective Service ensures a fair and equitable draft, if ever required.”

Wait, aren’t girls eligible now, too, since they can serve in every position of the military?

Some people argue that women shouldn’t be eligible because society needs them safe at home to procreate. Others say not every woman wants to be in the military. But couldn’t both of these arguments be made for men as well? Can we really cherry-pick equality this way?

By luck and chance, I gave birth to all boys. Now, as my boys move toward becoming men, our government tells me it has the legal right to force all of my sons into service — and maybe death — for our country.

My friends with girls can sleep well knowing that not only are their daughters not eligible for the draft, they’ve also earned the right to be in the military if that’s their choice. Choice and freedom surrounds them at every turn.

But if we believe that women can do anything men can do, it’s time for girls to register, too. And if we aren’t ready to register women, then the Selective Service’s draft will never be “fair and equitable.”