Women can hold almost any job in any branch of the military or government. Women can play virtually any sport. Women can vote. Women can succeed in life without depending on a man.
In the 21st century, a woman in the United States of America has the freedom to pursue whatever she puts her mind to.

With freedom comes responsibility.

For men, this means registering with the Selective Service System (SSS) upon turning 18. Why not women also?

Recent United States history is dotted with times where this issue has been under debate. In 1980, the U.S. District court of Eastern Pennsylvania decided that only registering men is gender-based discrimination and violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

However, in 198, the Surpreme Court directly appealed the case, Rostker v Goldberg, citing that the issue is a decision of Congress under its constitutional authority to raise armies and navies.

Also, since the sole purpose of registering for the SSS is to create an adequate pool of U.S. Army ground combat troops to draw from and current Army policy states not to use women in combat, the Supreme Court ruled that the current draft process is justifiable.

The issue was reexamined in 1992 by the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces and again reviewed in 1994 by the Department of the Defense. Both times, each group reached the same conclusion as the Surpreme Court had.

Why women are not used in combat is a loaded question that when asked will be met with extremely varied answers. The opinion of the U.S. Army in the past has been that women are not capable of handling the mental, physical and emotional demands of ground combat.

The U.S. Army’s evolution of opinion is evident now in their reference to women as “females” and increasing number of opportunities for women. No longer are women limited to nursing and desk jobs.

With today’s changing military, the SSS will continue to be reviewed periodically. If the government decides that registering women is necessary, the current design of the SSS is capable of registering and drafting women given the mission and supplies.

Another option besides sending women into combat could be to register and draft women into other important military positions.

For example, women were almost drafted in World War II when there was a shortage of nurses. This ended up not occuring because a surge of volunteerism fulfilled the shortage before a draft could be established.

For more information about the history of the SSS and the registration and draft process visit the official Selective Service System website at http://www.sss.gov.