From Draft NOtices, January-March 2022
Female Draft Registration Decision Delayed, for Now
— Rick Jahnkow
Language that would have expanded draft registration to include women was, fortunately, pulled from the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) before Congress approved the bill in December. Pres. Biden then signed the NDAA on December 27, 2021.
Previously, the House, Senate and Biden were expected to approve the NDAA with registration of women included, but when the NDAA appeared headed for a deadlock in the Senate, an agreement to remove the provision was negotiated in order to secure votes from anti-feminist Republican senators who opposed the drafting of women. As a result, the current system of only registering males will continue to be in effect.
It is now possible that registration of women could be attempted with a stand-alone bill, though such an approach would lead to hearings in Congress that would open the door to debate over total repeal of the Selective Service System and/or draft registration. Another possible approach would be to avoid such hearings by again proposing registration of women with an amendment to the 2023 NDAA, which could be taken up by mid-2022. Both approaches might be affected by whichever party is in control of Congress after the mid-term elections.
A more detailed discussion of possible scenarios can be read at https://hasbrouck.org/blog/archives/002636.html.
This article is from Draft NOtices, the newsletter of the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (http://www.comdsd.org/index.php/draft-notices).
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