Senate Votes to Require Women to Register for the Draft

Senate Votes to Require Women to Register for the Draft - NY Times

In the latest and perhaps decisive battle over the role of women in the military, Congress is embroiled in an increasingly intense debate over whether they should have to register for the draft when they turn 18.

On Tuesday, the Senate approved an expansive military policy bill that would for the first time require young women to register for the draft. The shift, while fiercely opposed by some conservative lawmakers and interest groups, had surprisingly broad support among Republican leaders and women in both parties.

Under the Senate bill passed on Tuesday, women turning 18 on or after Jan. 1, 2018, would be forced to register for Selective Service, as men must do now. Failure to register could result in the loss of various forms of federal aid, including Pell grants, a penalty that men already face. Because the policy would not apply to women who turned 18 before 2018, it would not affect current aid arrangements.

The debate will now pit the Senate against the House, where the policy change has support but was not included in that chamber's version of the bill.

- Father, we ask that You stop this bill now before we have a national emergency that has to reinstitute the draft. America and American women should not be undermined by this godless policy.

- "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise." Proverbs 12:15