Senate Overwhelming Votes to Require Women to Register for Draft

Senate Overwhelming Votes to Require Women to Register for the Draft

The Senate voted to require women to register for the draft when they turn 18, just like men, as part of a large military authorization bill Tuesday. The new provision, passed by the Senate 85 to 13, is still far from becoming law, but comes at a time when the U.S. military has gradually lifted previous restrictions on women serving in combat roles in the armed forces.

The vote signals a changing national—and political—mood on the issue, particularly by conservative lawmakers, with the staunchest conservative wing of the Republican party still actively opposing the change.

For a related prior post, see 9th Circuit Hears Challenge to Men Only Draft

For the legal history of the draft and other military exclusions, see Jill Hasday, Fighting Women: The Military, Sex, and Extrajudicial Constitutional Change, 93 Minnesota L.Rev. 1 (2008).