Congress could soon pass a law making women eligible for the draft. As a young woman, here’s why I know this is a bad idea.

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes not just the funds needed to operate the Department of Defense over the next year but also — shockingly — a requirement for women to sign up for the draft. 

That means that if the nation went the war and the draft was re-activated, women could be called up to serve, albeit in non-combat roles.

This part of the NDAA, sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., would require women to register with the Selective Services System when they turn 18 years old, just as men have long been mandated. Women who are between the ages of 18 and 25 when the bill passes (if it passes) will also have to register. Failure to do so carries steep penalties.

Discussions of adding women to the draft began in 2015 after the feminist movement successfully helped pressure the military to allow women to serve on the frontlines in direct ground combat roles.

The NDAA must still be voted on by the Senate, but its version also includes the women’s draft provision. The amendment adding it to the bill passed the Senate Armed Services Committee by a 23-3 vote, with Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., voting — and speaking out vehemently — against the proposal.

Cotton said, “Our military has welcomed women for decades and are stronger for it, but America’s daughters shouldn’t be drafted against their will. I opposed this amendment in committee, and I’ll work to remove it before the defense bill passes.”

Hawley also expressed his disgust with the bill. “American women have heroically served in and alongside our fighting forces since our nation’s founding. It’s one thing to allow American women to choose this service, but it’s quite another to force it upon our daughters, sisters, and wives.”

Notable Republicans who, surprisingly, voted to make women eligible for the draft included Thom Tillis, R-Fla., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Rick Scott, R-Ill., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

The last time the draft was utilized was during the Vietnam War, with 2.2 million Americans chosen from the Select Services System. U.S. advisory and combat operations in Vietnam lasted from 1962-1973. While it seems unlikely that the draft could come into use again with modern warfare, it is possible.

The possibility and the principle leaves much to be discussed. Countries such as Russia and Israel that formerly required women to serve in their military have since eased up on their requirements after they found that “mixed-gender units were less effective and sustained higher rates of casualties than all-male units.”

Another study done by the United States Marines showed that women have an increased chance of being injured on the battlefield and are less likely to be able to help pull injured soldiers off the field.

While there are women who serve in our armed forces and do an incredible job at it, they have the choice of whether or not to join the military. Women should not be forced to join the military in any capacity, as most women are much smaller and less likely to function well in a battle scenario in comparison to their male counterparts. 

This begs the question — in a country with over 150 million males, why do we need women to register for the draft? 

It was all done all in the name of equality. Women have gained the right to vote and the equal opportunity to work in the same jobs as men, all good things. But the most extreme feminists weren’t satisfied with this type of equality. They want women to do everything that men do — even if it is something that we were not designed to do and would have to be forced to do. And as a result, today’s young feminists, many of whom are just as strident in demanding their way on a host of other issues, may find that this is one form of so-called equal rights that they might not be so keen on experiencing.

To go to war is hardly risk-free; in fact, hundreds of women who have served in so-called “non-combat” support roles like logistics, training, healthcare, and transportation are still put in harm’s way. During various conflicts, including the Global War on Terror, U.S. women have suffered loss of limbs, disfiguration, torture, rape, and death, and women have even been captured and held as POWs and endured all of the predictable horror that comes with that situation.

Today, we oftentimes confuse the terms “equality” and “sameness.” According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, the word equality is defined as “the quality or state of being equal” while sameness is defined as “the quality or state of being the same.” 

While men and women are equal in the United States, we are not the same. 

The National Review notes that using our system of defense to promote the feminists’ goal of equality is downright absurd. “Any policy, however benignly intended — such as the arbitrary desire to increase the number of women in the Army — that interferes with the goal of attaining maximum lethality for the unit or individuals is a betrayal of the nation.”

God created us equal — men and women. But while He created us equally, He did not create us the same. We were designed to fulfill different roles and accomplish different things and that is okay. There is nothing wrong with being different. As a woman, I don’t want to be the same as a man or have the same responsibilities. I was created to be different, and I want to fulfill the God-given purpose I was given as a woman and a daughter of the King.

Men were designed to be the protectors. Men are called by God to model His Son Jesus by being willing to lay down his life for others. They were designed to protect and defend. 

If this bill passes, our government is telling us women that we aren’t worth protecting and we aren’t worth fighting for. 

What if a drafted woman has young children? Does she have to leave them behind? If her husband works, who will take care of her children in her absence?

Requiring women to register for the draft will further break down the nuclear family in the United States. We have already seen the family unit face challenge after challenge, and it is a God-given establishment that needs to be protected at all costs. Having young mothers drafted and sent to war against their will could cause irreversible damage to their children, not to mention causing extreme anxiety for the mother as she leaves.

I’ll admit that as a young woman who desires to be a mom someday, the very thought of being drafted and having to leave my family behind terrifies me. If a woman wants to be in the military that is amazing and I support and admire her, but that doesn’t mean all women should be forced to do so.

In a world that says a woman should have the opportunity do anything a man can do, we must also be realistic. As to the idea of conscripting whole generations of young women into military service, I say we stop the madness and stick to the roles that God has designed for women. He created us with our specific design and skill sets for a reason, so let’s chase after the design He’s given us instead of chasing after what we weren’t meant to do.

In chasing someone else’s purpose, we lose out on our own.