Women May Soon Be Required To Register For The Military Draft

The Senate passed a new bill on Tuesday that would require women to register for the military draft.

With the bill, women who turn 18 on or after January 1, 2018 would have to register with the Selective Service System, according to the The New York Times.

Men already have to do this, but the Supreme Court ruled in 1981 women do not have to. This was because women used to not be able to serve on the front lines of combat.

But as of this past December, women can now serve on the front lines in all combat jobs. This change made the draft question a little more iffy.

Under the bill, if women do not register for the draft, they will lose federal aid like Pell Grants.

The draft has not been used since 1973 for the Vietnam War.

The role of women in the military has been rising in recent years. Last August, the first two women in history graduated from the Army Ranger School.

It's also been a good month for the visibility of female military members. At the beginning of June, Deshauna Barber became the first military service member to win the Miss USA pageant. Earlier this week, a Navy veteran spoke back against someone who assumed she couldn't be a veteran because she is a woman.

Although I personally am not particularly interested in having to join the military, I am personally against sexist statements made by Ted Cruz. He said during the Senate vote on the bill,

The idea that we should forcibly conscript young girls in combat to my mind makes little sense at all.

Bro, 18-year-old female humans are women, not "young girls." Your daughters might be "young girls," but 18-year-old women are not.

The Congress will battle the bill out, and we'll see if it eventually becomes an actual law for women to register for the military draft.

Citations: Senate Passes Bill That Would Require Women to Register for the Draft (The Cut), Senate Votes to Require Women to Register for the Draft (The New York Times), Here's Ted Cruz's Most Cringeworthy Attempt at Human Affection Yet (Gawker), Rostker v. Goldberg (Oyez)