Recently, there has been a lawsuit that allegedly states that having males only draft into the military is an unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of sex.
On behalf of two men and men’s rights organization, the National Coalition for Men, The American Civil Liberties Union argues that the requirement for only men to draft and to be able to register with the system at the age of 18 is “one of the last sex-based classifications in federal law”.
The Biden administration pitched in their ideas and asked the Supreme Court to label the issue as “Congress’s attention to the question may soon eliminate any need for the court to grapple with that constitutional question.”
They did not state Biden’s opinion on the case specifically, nor did it defend the system in place at the moment. The law states that men ages 18 to 26 must register if there is a military draft in the States.
Justices suggested that they could take up the case if the Congress does not amend to this law.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor writes, “It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act. The role of women in the military has changed dramatically.” She adds, the Congress had upheld the male-only draft back in 1981.
With the ruling being upheld, it is an outdated military policy that excluded women in combat roles. This policy had been reversed back in 2013 under Leon Panetta.
Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the ACLU Women’s Rights Projects, comments that “requiring only men to register for the draft reflects the outdated and sexist notion that women are less fit to serve in the military and that men are less able to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict.”
Because of the male-only draft, these stereotypes not only demean women, but men too. Officials have stated that they were “disappointed the Supreme Court allowed one of the last examples of overt sex discrimination in federal law to stand.
We urge Congress to update the law by requiring everyone to register for the draft, regardless of their gender, or by not requiring anyone to register.”