Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah) said he was struggling with conflicting sentiments. “One is I believe in the equality of women and I want to communicate that men and women are equal,” Mr. Romney said. “At the same time, I don’t want to put women in harm’s way in a way which would impair their safety. So these conflicting sentiments have kept me from reaching a final decision.”
This is from Lindsay Wise and Nancy A. Youssef, “Congress Debates Requiring Women to Register for Military Draft,” Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2021. (Print edition is November 19, 2021)
This is an issue on which I agree with Senator Romney. Both sentiments–I would call them values–are important.
Is there a way for them not to conflict?
Yes, and the solution is presented later in the news story. Wise and Youssef write:
Some Democrats and Republicans have managed to find common ground on legislation that would eliminate the Selective Service entirely, ending registration for both men and women.
That would do it. Men and women would be treated equally and neither would be put in harm’s way against his or her will.
By the way, I’m so old that I remember when no one had to register for conscription. President Ford ended it on April 1, 1975 in what is probably the most beneficial April Fool’s action in history. President Carter renewed it in July 1980.
Note: Former USMC Major Chad W. Seagren and I wrote on this for Hoover 5 years ago.
The picture at the top is of Elvis Presley’s draft card.
READER COMMENTS
Mark Z
Nov 19 2021 at 5:58pm
I agree with your prescription, though I think Romney is conveying that he’s more reticent to put women in harm’s way than men, which is inconsistent with equality, and that, I think, is what he’s grapping with. Chivalry and equality are inconsistent with each other, and he can’t decide between them.
David Henderson
Nov 19 2021 at 6:23pm
Oh, I absolutely agree. I’m just giving him a way out of the dilemma. BTW, I think you mean “hesitant,” not “reticent.”
Mark Z
Nov 19 2021 at 6:35pm
Yes I did, thanks. I hope he takes your way out.
Frank
Nov 19 2021 at 7:15pm
Many, including Mr. Romney, don’t understand the difference between equal rights and equal obligations.
Men and women having equal rights is an evolutionary product of western civilization. Women having certain obligations is a return to the early medieval period, at best.
rsm
Nov 19 2021 at 9:24pm
Did being threatened into registering for the draft in 1980 turn me against vaccine mandates today?
Ross Levatter
Nov 20 2021 at 8:15pm
UNITED STATES SENATOR Romney: “I don’t want to put women in harm’s way in a way which would impair their safety.”
Do words even have meanings any longer?
David Seltzer
Nov 23 2021 at 1:23pm
Ross, spot on. If men and women are equal, then don’t put men in harm’s way either. Conflict resolved Senator.
Zeke5123
Nov 21 2021 at 8:33am
I am against the draft on libertarian grounds. But it also seems to me that if someone were for the draft there is only one grounds on which it could be sustained: necessity.
Thus it is interesting in Romney’s statement that necessity is no where to be seen. That is, would a draft of females (1) be necessary, (2) improve the fighting capacity of the military, and (3) have any other positive or deleterious effects on the war effort in the context of a war where a draft is necessary.
Matthias
Nov 21 2021 at 11:26pm
This is about registration, not drafting directly.
If you assume that whether women need to register or not, about the same number of people would be drafted (just with a different gender balance), then your argument vanishes, doesn’t it?
Comments are closed.