Reps introduce bill requiring women to register for draft

Submitted by Mastodon on Fri, 2016-02-05 14:17

Article here. Excerpt:

'Two Republican lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday requiring women to register for the draft – in a move meant to take the decision out of the hands of the military so it can be debated in Congress.

Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Ryan Zinke of Montana said their joint legislation is aimed at provoking a fuller discussion of the Pentagon’s decision to open all combat jobs to women. Top generals for the Army and Marines said earlier this week that women should be required to register for the draft now that combat jobs are being opened to them.

“If this administration wants to send 18, 20-year-old women into combat, to serve and fight on the front lines, then the American people deserve to have this discussion through their elected representatives,” Hunter said in a statement.'

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Frankly, I have my doubts. Already, pundits are saying we should abolish the draft rather than draft women. Abolishing the draft is fine with me. The draft makes it too easy to carry out dubious wars, such as the Vietnam war. But the rest of the story is that women don't like being treated as men are treated: the unjust treatment of men is not a problem until we propose treating women the same way. Part of the unjust treatment is that men are required to register in order to receive the same benefits women receive without registering, such as federal student loans.

But if the draft remains, yes, women should be required to register. Now that women can serve in combat the courts have no reason to exempt them from registration.

I also suspect a fair percentage of women will be pregnant when they arrive for basic training. So what do we do? Make them go through basic while pregnant or send them home? I suspect we'll send them home. They can be required to return but they might be pregnant again, or have a child in tow. So now we need to provide daycare for the child of a draftee that might not even meet the standards. In the end, I suspect a woman who does not want to be a soldier will find a legal way out--without ever moving to Canada.

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Submitted by el cid on Sat, 2016-02-06 15:57

I'm for all options, keep an all-inclusive draft or drop the draft; but above those two options I am for financial efficiency, and I see many of the proposals about women trying out to serve in infantry as a big waste of money - money that would be better spent someplace else in the military.

Pregnancy is a legitimate concern. The same years you want women in the military are the same years people usually want to start a family - and when they make the healthiest babies. If military women aren't supposed to get pregnant in their twenties, then when are they?

People often marry the people in close proximately to them like the people they work with. With an increase of women in the military, there will be an increase of military men and women marrying each other. Many men will also want there wives to start a family at this time.

So yeah, I see the military spending a lot of money on training women, yet as these women approach their mid twenties or thirties, they will ditch any dangerous military positions they have been trained for and opt for a family (and will likely have pressure from their husbands as well). It is biological, and biology usually always wins.

There is also the issue of birth control - many women cant take it, and I believe the military already has policies about not enlisting anyone who needs daily or regular medication. It would be unethical to force medication on anyone.

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Submitted by Kris on Sat, 2016-02-06 19:43