# Should women have to REGISTER for the draft? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776 "2007-01-21T00:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/1 "2007-01-21T00:48:05Z")
We don’t draft men, but we still make them register _just in case_ we reinstate the draft. So should we then make women register for the draft _just in case_ we include them in a reinstated draft? Transwomen must register. Registering wouldn’t prove anymore a burden for women then men (especially since in many cases it’s automatic). Is there any reason why women should not have to register along with men? Personally I think the SSS is a waste of money and should be abolished, but as long as it exists it both sexes should have to register on the same basis. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/2 "2007-01-21T00:50:01Z")
I don’t have a problem with women registering. Seems only fair. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/3 "2007-01-21T00:57:34Z")
Yes, although I would prefer for it to be done away with altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/4 "2007-01-21T01:00:02Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/5 "2007-01-21T01:07:46Z")
Of course. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/6 "2007-01-21T01:13:46Z")
Yes. It might even be what is needed to get rid of it; one odd thing I’ve noticed about the genders is that as a group each puts up with garbage the other would never tolerate. IMHO, women tend to get much more excited about other people putting them into danger than men do, and they might be willing to do the political heavy lifting against draft registration that men aren’t willing to. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/7 "2007-01-21T01:14:32Z")
So long as men have to, women should too. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/8 "2007-01-21T01:53:18Z")
Either women should have to register, or no one should–especially in our current social and political climate where registering for the draft has no connection to actually fighting a war. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/9 "2007-01-21T02:09:56Z")
No one should have to register for the draft. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/10 "2007-01-21T02:15:06Z")
Both or none. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/11 "2007-01-21T02:27:14Z")
I agree, both or none. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/12 "2007-01-21T03:55:26Z")
Yep, both or none. Good thing you didn’t put the OP in Great Debates, mm? Not generating much dissent so far… ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/13 "2007-01-21T06:10:35Z")
Okay, I’ll give a shot at a dissenting view. 🙂 Nope, women shouldn’t have to register for the draft, at least not if we’re assuming that the draft is there for the purpose of drumming up troops for combat. From the viewpoint of pure survival of a country and its populace, a country can spare men more easily than it can women, simply because sperm is easier to store and then use later than eggs or uteruses are (not to mention that one man can impregnate many women whereas obviously women can only bear one child at a time). Another factor is that you’d have to worry about how to deal with pregnancies on the battlefield…especially since many women probably don’t want to have their lives disrupted by military service and would probably intentionally get pregnant just to get out of duty (that’s exactly what I would do if my number was called up for combat!). Plus just imagine the bad press it would generate if a woman who never wanted to go to war in the first place was captured by the enemy and raped (a fate that many people would consider worse than death or other forms of torture). We’re fortunate that right now so many people are willing to give their lives to military service that this is just a hypothetical debate for now. I definitely give a lot of respect to military folks, but I have no desire to join them myself. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/14 "2007-01-21T06:24:34Z")
This has been debated here [before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=396947&page=1&pp=50). Yes, IMHO women should definitely have to register for the draft. Absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/15 "2007-01-21T06:59:43Z")
Men shouldn’t have to register for the draft. Nobody benefits from extending that mistake to women. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/16 "2007-01-21T09:26:48Z")
I’m another one who thinks that the draft is a boondoggle. I still haven’t forgiven Bill Clinton for, back in 1993, not abolishing the draft registration - when the Joint Chiefs made the suggestion. At the time, his three official reasons were: Eliminating draft registration would reduce America’s readiness in the eyes of the world; Draft registration provides a useful list of skills available to the country; and Draft registration provides a vital link between the civilian population and the All-Volunteer Force. Yes, that’s bull, bull and bull - but those were his reasons. I oppose the draft, and don’t think much of SSS, either. Having said that, I don’t think that it’s just for men to be required to register, but not women. If the gov’t is willing to coerce draft registration from men, I think it should do the same to women - isn’t that what sexual equality is supposed to be about? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/17 "2007-01-21T09:32:57Z")
The first people who should HAVE TO register for any future draft are the male and female children and grandchildren of the people in Congress and the House of Representatives who would re-instate the draft. No exceptions. Then, once all of their own draft-age, eligible family members have registered, then I agree that both men and women should have to register as well. If nothing else, this might bring back the reality of war to the dinner table. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/18 "2007-01-21T14:27:59Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Men shouldn’t have to register for the draft. Nobody benefits from extending that mistake to women. [/QUOTE] Yes it does. It reduces by half the chances that a man would get called. If “women are capable of doing anything a man can do”, that includes catching bullets. (Of course, when they’re _in_capable, that’s somehow automatically sexism, but never mind.) ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/19 "2007-01-21T16:10:05Z")
[QUOTE=lavenderviolet] From the viewpoint of pure survival of a country and its populace, a country can spare men more easily than it can women, simply because sperm is easier to store and then use later than eggs or uteruses are (not to mention that one man can impregnate many women whereas obviously women can only bear one child at a time). Another factor is that you’d have to worry about how to deal with pregnancies on the battlefield…especially since many women probably don’t want to have their lives disrupted by military service and would probably intentionally get pregnant just to get out of duty (that’s exactly what I would do if my number was called up for combat!). [/QUOTE] There’s a sensible solution to this - involuntary fertilization drugs for the women who dodge the draft. Now the girls on the home front can have 8 kids at a time! And forced sterilization for personnel in the armed services will take care of pregnancies disrupting military life. Makes just as much sense to me as a peace-time draft, and even more sense than a wartime draft that is never used in spite of horrifying manpower shortages on the battlefield. Of course, the day women become eligible for the draft is the day I discover the joys of emigrating to Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776/20 "2007-01-21T16:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] No one should have to register for the draft. [/QUOTE] My answer for over 35 years now. Sad the question is not yet moot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-have-to-register-for-the-draft/388776.md?page=2)