Mixed Reaction to Women in the Draft
Senate, House proposals stir debate on role of women in the military
A new proposal cleared by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that would make women subject to a military draft has drawn mixed reactions.
The Senate plan matches a similar proposal narrowly approved by the House Armed Services Committee last month, setting the stage for a floor debate about the role of women in the military.
After the announcement, Lauren Augustine, a legislative advocate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, praised the effort.
“The fight for equality of opportunity and treatment must also include equality in obligation,” Augustine said in a statement. “As we move towards a formalized role for women in combat arms, this is a necessary progression.”
But the reaction was not all positive. Jude Eden, an Iraq War veteran, criticized the measure.
@EricMGarcia It’s unnecessary, dangerous, & will create a bureaucratic nightmare. https://t.co/FX0f8axybn
— Jude Eden (@Jude_Eden) May 13, 2016
@EricMGarcia I agree with Center for Military Readiness’ take: House/Senate Should Defeat DraftAmerica’sDaughters https://t.co/JlG8QT2Tvs
— Jude Eden (@Jude_Eden) May 13, 2016
Similarly, when a similar bill was brought up in the House Armed Services Committee in April, the right-leaning Center for Military Readiness, criticized the measure, saying “Drafting unsuspecting girls-next-door in a future national emergency would create a political crisis and a paralyzing administrative overload that would weaken our armed forces at the worst possible time.”
The House version of the bill alarmed a few Twitter users.
Heard they might need to draft women .. If I’m drafted I’m moving to Canada
— babygirl ✨ (@yoitsangelina) April 29, 2016
Meanwhile, others like conservative commentator Daniel Horowitz criticized Arizona Sen. John McCain for backing the provision.
Evidently, McCain was too scared to have a public debate over drafting women, so he snuck it into 1000 page NDAA https://t.co/QQus0Og2EJ
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) May 13, 2016
Contact Garcia at EricGarcia@cqrollcall.com and follow him on Twitter @EricMGarcia.
