Should Women Be Drafted into Military Service?

            My generation fought the Vietnam War. I had friends who were drafted into the military, and some lost their lives. My husband came close to being drafted, and our lives were badly affected by the possibility. My sons registered for the draft when they turned 18 years old, and one of my sons served four years in the Air Force. The fact is that there are people who are not satisfied with drafting my sons and grandsons. Now, they are discussing the idea of drafting my daughters and granddaughters.

            I do not like the idea of sending my sons and grandsons to defend the nation on the front lines. I dislike even more the idea of my daughters and granddaughters going into the military. One of my nieces chose to serve in the military where she was raped. War is not good for either men or women, but men are more suited to deal with the conditions of war than are women.

            Last year, Congress debated a requirement for young women to register for military duty. It was “a very bad and ill-considered idea,” according to James Carafano. Congress decided against the provision, but proponents of the bad idea could bring it up again. 

            Carafano suggested that Congress consider questions Americans as to what we want. If drafting young women is “a pressing reform,” he suggested that the subject should be nationally debated. “Why isn’t every candidate for office being asked about the issue in the run-up to the midterms in 2022?

Drafting our daughters is following an all-too-familiar pattern of implementing consequential social change without seriously looking at the consequences.

Many states, for example, have forged ahead with so-called gender-affirming medical treatment with almost no serious consideration of the impact on our children.

            Carafano declared that America should take a timeout on the issue because proponents of the idea of drafting women have been working on the issue in secret rather than discussing it openly. The reason that they want to draft women is for “equity” – if men are drafted, then women should be drafted also. Carafano continued with his reasoning:

That argument raises a second red flag. Women already have widespread opportunities to serve in the armed forces. This initiative won’t promote equal treatment or opportunity for women.

This sounds suspiciously like every woke campaign started by the left that begins with making a case that it’s all about “fairness,” when what’s really intended is a small first step for a radical agenda….

The reality is that the current system of U.S. conscription is an anachronism that serves no useful military purpose. Rather than talking about drafting women, we ought to be asking why we perpetuate a draft at all.

Registering for the draft is not an act of patriotism that builds civic virtue. It’s just a legal requirement that, beyond registering, requires individuals to do nothing.

The brutal truth is that even if the U.S. tried to draft Americans, the system would produce almost no manpower. The vast majority of American youths, for various reasons, don’t qualify for military service.

If the U.S. reinstituted a draft, we would be drafting from the small pool of American youths who are already volunteering for military service. That makes no sense.

Rather than tackling real issues, like the social, cultural, and health issues making American youths ill-prepared to serve, and focusing on creating more opportunities and options for service in the all-volunteer force that would contribute to military readiness, Congress will yet again toy with an empty gesture that would do nothing about meeting the constitutional obligation to “provide for the common defense.”

            I like Carafano’s reasoning because I do not women to be drafted into military service. For those women who desire a military career, I wish you success. I do not want my daughters and granddaughters to serve in the military. The conditions of war are bad for all people, but they are worse for females than for males. There is no good argument for drafting women.