UPDATE: The CWALAC team has put together a letter from a coalition of conservative leaders and activists. Read it here.
Has the world lost its mind? John McCain, Mitch McConnell, and other senators think your daughter should be drafted into combat. We have gone from debating whether or not women should serve in combat to some advocating that they should be forced to serve in combat. Leadership should know better than to disregard basic biology in order to embrace political correctness.
Yet, this Tuesday, the Senate will vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, which currently includes a provision to expand the Military Selective Service requirements to female citizens aged 18-26. But, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has offered an amendment which would strike the provision which forces our young women to register with the Selective Service. Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee supports the senator’s wise provision which puts America’s national security first.
Our military’s sole purpose is to protect our nation, not to serve as this administration’s laboratory for social engineering. Peak childbearing years for women continue to be cited1 at 20-35, an age range in line with the 18-26 age group affected by this policy that ignores basic biology. We firmly believe in the equality of men and women, but that does not require us to ignore the physical differences and unique risks to women in combat particularly in the case of capture.
There are exceptional women who are capable of meeting or exceeding the combat standards put forth by each branch. We support them as we do all individuals willing to put their lives on the line for the greatest nation in the history of the world. However, the female draft discussion should revolve around combat readiness, efficiency, and national security, and weeding through applicants that are overwhelmingly biologically unable to meet combat standards would be a logistical nightmare and would force the lowering of combat standards. The capabilities of these rare women should not mean all appropriately aged women are involuntarily eligible for combat.
Perhaps the greatest threat to our national security is radical Islamic terrorism. Radical Islamists view women as less than men and as property. The torture, repeated rape, and humiliation that would face female POWs would be unthinkable. Women who understand these risks and who bravely choose to serve regardless are different from women who are chosen to serve based on the day they were born.
Women are not clamoring for this “opportunity.” Only 15 percent of our active-duty military forces are women.2 We find it demeaning to suggest that women who have instead chosen to serve our nation in other civilian roles – such as manufacturing, commerce, medicine or even caring for their children – are not contributing to our nation. They are indeed!
We strongly support the heroic, capable, and honorable women who chose and will choose to serve our country in the military. However, this issue centers around whether or not women are to be forced to register to serve in tip-of-spear combat roles should our nation reinstate the draft. Forcing women to serve in combat against their will is a deep departure in U.S. policy.
Penny Nance and CWALAC’s legislative team have been meeting with key Republican senators and now those senators need to hear from you.
ACTION: Call your senators now and urge them to support Sen. Lee’s amendment to strike the portion of the National Defense Authorization Act which would require women to register with the Selective Service. Click here to find your senators’ contact information.
Thank you in advance for your important action!
ENDNOTES
1 “Best age for childbearing remains 20-35 – Delaying risks heartbreak, say experts,” Medical News Today, September 16, 2005, accessed at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/30737.php, May 18, 2016.
2 “See Women’s Progress in the U.S. Military,” Time Magazine, September 8, 2015, accessed at http://labs.time.com/story/women-in-military/ on May 18, 2016.