Don’t Draft Women: New at Reason

With military combat roles now open to women, the question of extending compulsory draft registration to them has come up. Two Republican members of the House who are military veterans have even introduced legislation that would require women to register. That set the stage for the question at the most recent Republican debate, where Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie endorsed compulsory registration of women. The remaining candidates said nothing. No one objected. 

Some misguided people will argue that if men must register, then fairness dictates that women must register too. But that’s an odd notion of fairness or justice, writes Sheldon Richman. The only fair measure would be to abolish registration and never draft anyone of any gender again.

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