Drafting Women

From the Stars and Stripes:
"White House considers opening the draft to women"

The White House announced Friday that it will consider making women eligible for the draft, one day after the Pentagon’s historic decision to allow women in all combat roles. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said officials at the Pentagon are deliberating on the change and will work with Congress on the review on the selective service law. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that all military jobs will be opened to women, including the most dangerous combat posts. The outcome of a federal lawsuit challenging male-only registration also could play a role in determining whether women will be required to register for the draft. The case, National Coalition for Men vs. the Selective Service System, will be considered Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena, Calif. But Carter said the lawsuit won’t stop the Pentagon from moving forward. Under the Military Selective Service Act, men must register 30 days after their 18th birthday with the Selective Service System, which could call upon them for compulsory military service in a time of war. They must stay registered until their 26th birthday. Failure to register has consequences, including prison, a $250,000 fine and denial of federal jobs or government benefits “If women are not being penalized for failing to register for the draft, then men shouldn’t be penalized either,” coalition president Harry Crouch said in a statement issued Friday. Judy Patterson, chief executive officer of the Service Women’s Action Network, a nonprofit focused on advancing equal opportunity for military women, said the group welcomes adding them to the draft. “The draft is another gender-biased policy rooted in another era. We welcome an open debate around the inclusion of women and even whether the law itself is an anachronism whose time has come,” she said Friday. “I have yet to speak with any woman who is personally opposed to registering.”

^ It only makes sense that to treat women fully equal as men (as should be done) then women should also have to be required to register for the Draft as men do. I don't see the Draft ever being re-instated, but it's more the principle of equality than practice. ^

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/white-house-considers-opening-the-draft-to-women-1.381862