Check this one out :
http://www.stopthedraft.com/index.php?articleID=2654§ionID=65Women & The Draft: The Perpetuation Of Gender Discrimination
By David W. Behrens
February 28, 2004
With very rare exceptions, every man residing in the United States 18 to 26 years of age is required by the Military Selective Service Act to register with the Selective Service System, and thereby subject himself to the possibility of involuntary military service. Yet, even with the war in Iraq, the prosecution of which may require millions of U.S. military personnel, absolutely no woman in the U.S. is required to register.
This clear fact of gender discrimination has not been focused upon in public discussions, I believe, because an active draft has not been in effect since 1973.
The United States Selective Service System offers on its Website a short history of the draft with respect to women. The primary reason given for non-registration of women is a twenty-year-old Supreme Court decision, Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57 (1981).
Simply stated, this decision says that since all men registered with the Selective Service are considered combat replacements, and since Congress forbids women to go into combat, women should not be registered.
Of course, this reasoning is absolutely absurd, since it presupposes that every man called for involuntary military service will be used exclusively for combat, and that no man called will be used for the approximately 90% of military jobs which are non-combat related.
Twenty years after Rostker, the Uniformed Military Training Service Act (H.R. 3598) attempts a draft reformation by shortening the length of involuntary service, but still perpetuates gender discrimination by maintaining the requirement of involuntary service for all males registered under the Military Selective Service Act and exempting absolutely all females.
Some questions arise as a result of these blatant facts of gender discrimination:
1. U.S. women enjoy the same civil rights as U.S. men; they comprise 50.9% of the population and 18.8% of all military personnel. Why is the pretext of a ridiculous Supreme Court decision used to exempt the majority of the population from even the possibility of involuntary military service in any capacity?
2. Should women be permitted to vote in elections for candidates who may have to decide on war for our country, in light of the facts that women will never serve involuntarily in any military conflict and that even females who do volunteer for military service are exempted from life threatening combat jobs?
3. Title IX demands that proportionately gender-equal funds be used for all school-based activities that receive any federal funding, including athletics. Many schools have had to abandon male team sports that earn revenue in excess of their costs and which aid in the preparation of males for the teamwork and organization of military service, in order to provide gender-equal funding for female sports which perennially lose revenue. Yet there is no requirement for females to utilize the skills and strengths learned on the athletic field and the classroom in the military defense of their country. Should Title IX continue?
4. Do equal civil rights for women obligate women to equal civil responsibilities?
If you have any thoughts, comments or responses to the above questions, please contact the author directly by e-mail at:
[email protected].
