It's finally here.
The Supreme Court case that will determine whether women must sign up for the Selective Service. Put simply: the fight for women to be drafted, if there is a draft, is here.
Men have not been drafted to serve in war since the Vietnam War. The Petitioners to the court feel the time is now--when the threat of a draft is so distant, when we are deceived by the lack of emotion if it were a current threat.
The petition was filed by the ACLU on January 12, 2021. The Courts have asked for a delay in their response. The response was due on March 15. Today is March 22, but on the Supreme Court site (https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/20-928.html) an update hasn't been inserted into the document.
I recently explained to my students that the ACLU is a critical American organization for justice--with a small caveat that sometimes their filings are controversial. If you are for women being part of the war-draft, then you see the ACLU work as positive. If you are against the drafting of females, then you see the ACLU as a negative source in this case.
This issue of women inclusion in the draft came before the Supreme Court in 1981 in Rostker v Goldberg. After the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan, President Carter re-instituted the draft and the non-drafting of women was challenged. The Supreme Court deemed that women were exempt from the draft because they were currently banned from combat. The 6-3 court also addressed and upheld congress's claim that the problems of women in combat justified not including them in the draft.
That day is long past, since women were allowed to join all aspects of the military, including ground combat, since 2016.
I see both sides. It's a blessing and a curse to be so fair-minded.
Yet, unequivocally, I hate to see any person male or female, ages 18-26, drafted into war.
After the extensive bombing in both Europe and Japan at the end of WWII, the United States sent a commission, the United State Strategic Bombing Survvey, to study the effectiveness and consequences of TNT and atomic bombs. The commission wrote up their findings with specific interest in how to protect America if we were ever threatened with foreign invasion and specifically nuclear bomb attacks. The findings include the importance of readiness and the building of concrete tunnels. But in the end, the commission concludes with the best information ever: It is better to avoid war at all costs. From their report, "One further measure of safety must accompany the others. To avoid destruction, the surest way is to avoid war.
And finally, the most bothersome part is that this is a decision for the American people whether or not to send our daughters to war. It is not a Supreme Court decision to be made by 9 men and women. Our voices should be heard through our representative government who should be voting for this through their congressional authority.
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