Lost in all of the hubbub about the budget, infrastructure, etc. this week, the House of Representatives has voted for the Democrats’ National Defense Authorization Act, including a provision that requires women to register for the draft. While many women voluntarily serve in our armed forces honorably and with great distinction, there is no military need to draft women at random from the general population ahead of able-bodied men to serve, mostly in combat roles, during a time of national emergency.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has agreed to a similar amendment but the full Senate has not yet voted. Would you take a moment right now and ask Senator Ernst and Senator Grassley to vote against drafting our daughters?
Thank you for speaking up! Many in congress confuse this issue with equality for women. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is simply no military or national security reason to require women to register for the Selective Service. It is unnecessary, would be dangerous, and would weaken the military’s readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion.
It is unnecessary! During a national emergency we could more than double the size of our armed forces to 5 million servicemembers, for example, by only requiring 2.5% of the male population to serve. Should the draft need to be reinstated, randomly selected women should not be required to enlist ahead of able-bodied men.
It is dangerous! There are natural, physical differences between men and women, and studies show that combat roles (in which most draftees serve) are considerably more dangerous for women. The draft is random, and the process for ensuring fitness is not as stringent, leaving the system unable to adequately ensure that physically more-capable men are drafted before women are conscripted.
It would be detrimental to our military readiness, lethality, and unit cohesion! Studies show that sex-related physical differences negatively affected co-ed units’ speed and effectiveness. Furthermore, female servicemembers in combat units requires the military to provide certain accommodations otherwise unnecessary. Co-ed units would either require special privacy concerns to be accommodated in the harshest of circumstances or sacrifice the privacy needs of all servicemembers. These considerations would hinder the singular focus that is needed on the battlefield to defeat the enemy.
We must ensure the safety of our female service members and the lethality and readiness of our military! Please weigh in now and ask Representative Feenstra to say “No” to drafting our daughters.
