Key Takeaways
- Women cannot be drafted and are not required to register with the Selective Service under current law — only men ages 18–25 must register.
- Congress considered requiring women to register as part of the FY2025 NDAA in 2024, but the provision was removed from the final legislation signed into law.
- Starting December 18, 2026, Selective Service registration becomes automatic for men through federal database matching — but this change does not include women.
- The 1981 Supreme Court ruling in Rostker v. Goldberg upheld male-only registration, though three justices noted in 2021 that the legal basis may no longer hold since women now serve in all combat roles.
- A bipartisan National Commission recommended in 2020 that Congress expand registration to women, but Congress has not acted on that recommendation.
- Women make up nearly 18% of the active-duty force and have served in all military roles, including combat positions, since 2015.
Table of Contents
- What the Law Says Right Now
- Automatic Registration Starting December 2026
- Why This Keeps Coming Up in Congress
- The 2024 Proposal: What Happened
- The Legal Landscape: Could Courts Force a Change?
- Women in Combat: Where Things Stand in 2026
- Arguments For and Against Including Women
- What a Draft Would Actually Mean
- Frequently Asked Questions
What the Law Says Right Now
Under the Military Selective Service Act (MSSA), all male U.S. citizens and most male noncitizen residents between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service System (SSS). Women are not required to register and have never been subject to a military draft in the United States.
This means that if Congress and the President were to reinstate conscription — which has not happened since 1973 — only men would be eligible to be called up for military service under the current framework. Failing to register is technically a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years of imprisonment, though no one has been prosecuted for failure to register in decades. More commonly, men who fail to register may lose eligibility for federal employment, federal student aid, job training programs, and U.S. citizenship (for immigrants).
Automatic Registration Starting December 2026
The most significant change to the Selective Service System in decades takes effect on December 18, 2026. Under Section 535 of the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Trump on December 18, 2025, the SSS will begin automatically registering eligible men using existing federal databases, including Social Security Administration records.
Before this date, men must still proactively register within 30 days of their 18th birthday. After December 18, 2026, the government handles registration automatically — men will no longer need to take action themselves. The SSS is required to notify individuals that they have been registered and provide instructions for those who believe they were registered in error (such as those with qualifying medical exemptions or nonimmigrant visa holders).
Importantly, this automatic registration applies only to men. The FY2026 NDAA did not expand registration to include women. For a detailed breakdown of how automatic registration works, see our Selective Service Registration Guide for 2026.
Why This Keeps Coming Up in Congress
The question of whether women should register for the Selective Service has been debated in Congress repeatedly over the past decade. The issue gained renewed urgency after two key developments changed the landscape of military service:
In 2013, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced the end of the direct ground combat exclusion rule, which had barred women from combat assignments. By December 2015, then-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter completed the implementation, opening all approximately 220,000 previously restricted military positions to women — including infantry, armor, and special operations roles.
With the primary legal justification for male-only registration eliminated — the argument that women couldn’t serve in combat — Congress faced growing pressure to address the disparity. Rather than voting directly on the issue, Congress created the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service in 2017 to study the question.
After two and a half years of research, public hearings in 42 cities across 22 states, and consultation with more than 530 organizations, the Commission released its final report in March 2020. Its recommendation was clear: Congress should amend the MSSA to eliminate male-only registration and expand draft eligibility to all Americans of the applicable age group. The Commission found that the male-only requirement “unacceptably excludes women from a fundamental civic obligation and reinforces gender stereotypes about the role of women, undermining national security.”
Despite this recommendation, Congress has not enacted legislation to require women to register. The provision has been included in various versions of the annual defense authorization bill, only to be removed during negotiations before final passage.
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The 2024 Proposal: What Happened
In June 2024, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) approved a version of the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act that included a provision requiring women to register with the Selective Service. The proposal would have made registration automatic for all citizens — both men and women — through federal database matching.
The committee’s action generated significant media attention and public debate. However, the provision faced strong opposition, particularly from Republican lawmakers who argued the measure was unnecessary and a distraction from more pressing defense priorities.
The provision requiring women to register was ultimately removed from the final version of the FY2025 NDAA that became law. However, the automatic registration concept for men survived and was carried forward into the FY2026 NDAA, where it was enacted. The same thing happened in the FY2026 cycle — the automatic registration provision was passed for men, but expanding it to women was again left out of the final bill.
This pattern — proposals to include women advancing in committee but being dropped from final legislation — has repeated across multiple Congressional sessions, suggesting that while there is growing support for the idea, it has not yet reached the threshold needed to become law.
The Legal Landscape: Could Courts Force a Change?
The constitutional question of whether male-only registration violates equal protection has been actively litigated. The key precedent remains Rostker v. Goldberg, a 1981 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of male-only registration in a 6–3 ruling. Justice William Rehnquist wrote for the majority that men and women were not “similarly situated” for purposes of the draft because women were excluded from combat roles.
That foundational rationale has been significantly undermined by subsequent policy changes. With all combat positions open to women since 2015, the primary justification cited by the Court no longer exists. This shift prompted new legal challenges:
In 2019, a federal district court in Texas ruled in National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System that the male-only registration requirement was unconstitutional. The judge noted that the key fact underlying Rostker — women’s exclusion from combat — had fundamentally changed. However, the Fifth Circuit reversed this decision in 2020, holding that only the Supreme Court itself could overturn Rostker.
The Supreme Court declined to review the case in June 2021. However, in a notable concurrence, Justice Sonia Sotomayor — joined by Justices Breyer and Kavanaugh — acknowledged that the male-only draft registration was likely unconstitutional given the changes in military policy but deferred to Congress, which was actively considering legislation through the National Commission’s recommendations. The justices essentially gave Congress a window to act before the courts might step in.
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As of 2026, Congress has not acted, which means the legal challenge could resurface. If a new case reaches the Supreme Court, the justices may be less inclined to defer to Congress after years of inaction.
Women in Combat: Where Things Stand in 2026
Women now serve in every branch and every role in the U.S. military. According to Department of Defense data, women make up approximately 18% of the active-duty force — more than 200,000 service members. Over 160 women have earned the Army’s prestigious Ranger tab, and approximately 4,800 women serve in Army infantry, armor, and artillery positions.
The military’s gender integration has continued to advance despite some recent policy debates. In early 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a review of physical fitness standards for combat arms positions, directing the services to develop gender-neutral standards. Women who have served in combat roles have emphasized that they met the same standards as their male counterparts and earned their positions on merit.
The Marine Corps, historically the most resistant branch to gender integration, has begun graduating mixed-gender battalions in recruit training. And women continue to achieve milestones across the force — though the removal of all female four-star officers in early 2025 raised concerns about representation at the highest levels of military leadership.
The reality that women serve alongside men in every military capacity — including the most demanding combat roles — remains central to the ongoing debate about whether they should be required to register for the draft.
Arguments For and Against Including Women
The Case for Including Women in Registration
Proponents of expanding registration to women point to several arguments. Since women now serve in all combat roles and have proven their capability in demanding positions, exempting them from registration contradicts the principle of equal obligation. The 2020 National Commission concluded that roughly doubling the pool of potential conscripts would improve military readiness by raising the overall quality of those who might serve, noting that some women would be more qualified than some men. Supporters also frame the issue as one of equality — if registration represents a civic obligation tied to citizenship, it should apply equally regardless of gender.
Air Force veteran Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), who has championed Selective Service reform in Congress, has argued that automatic registration for all Americans is a matter of both equity and practical efficiency. The current Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior military officials have also supported expanding registration to include women.
The Case Against Including Women
Opponents raise several counterarguments. Some conservative lawmakers contend that a draft would primarily serve to generate large numbers of ground combat troops in a major war, and that forcing women into such situations raises distinct concerns. Others argue that the debate is a distraction from more pressing defense issues, particularly since the U.S. has maintained an all-volunteer force for over 50 years and has no plans to reinstate conscription. Some advocacy groups oppose expanding registration from a different angle entirely, arguing that the Selective Service System should be abolished rather than expanded — a position that has bipartisan support from libertarians and anti-war organizations alike.
What a Draft Would Actually Mean
It’s important to understand that Selective Service registration is not the same as being drafted. The United States has not drafted anyone since 1973. Registration simply maintains a database of individuals who could potentially be called for service in a national emergency.
Reinstating a draft would require:
- Congress to pass legislation authorizing conscription
- The President to sign the legislation into law
- A national lottery to determine the order of induction based on birthdays
Even if a draft were activated, various deferments and exemptions would apply, including for medical conditions, conscientious objector status, and certain essential occupations. Men turning 20 in the year the draft is activated would be called first, followed by those ages 21–25, and then 18–19.
The automatic registration taking effect in December 2026 is an administrative change to how names are collected — not an activation of the draft. It does not bring the country any closer to actually drafting anyone into military service.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Under current law, only men ages 18–25 are required to register with the Selective Service System, and only registered individuals could be drafted if conscription were ever reinstated. Women are not required to register and cannot be drafted. Congress has considered but not enacted proposals to change this.
No. While the Senate Armed Services Committee included a provision requiring women to register in its version of the FY2025 NDAA in June 2024, that provision was removed from the final bill signed into law. Similar proposals have been introduced in multiple Congressional sessions but have never made it through the full legislative process.
No. The automatic registration provision in the FY2026 NDAA applies only to male citizens and qualifying male noncitizen residents ages 18–25. The Selective Service System will use federal databases, including Social Security Administration records, to automatically identify and register eligible men. Women are not included.
All women are exempt. Among men, those exempt include: noncitizens on valid nonimmigrant visas (such as international students or diplomatic personnel), individuals confined to a home or institution due to a medical condition, and those on active duty in the armed forces. Men must register within 30 days of their 18th birthday until automatic registration takes effect in December 2026.
The Supreme Court upheld male-only registration in Rostker v. Goldberg (1981), reasoning that men and women were not similarly situated because women were barred from combat. Since combat restrictions were fully lifted in 2015, legal scholars widely believe the original justification no longer applies. Three Supreme Court justices acknowledged this in 2021 but deferred to Congress to address it legislatively. The question could return to the courts if Congress continues not to act.
Yes. Since December 2015, all military positions have been open to women, including infantry, armor, artillery, and special operations. Women currently serve in all branches and all roles, though the Pentagon initiated a review of combat arms fitness standards in 2025.
This article is provided by USMilitary.org, an independent educational resource. We are not affiliated with the Department of Defense, VA, or any government agency. For official Selective Service information, visit SSS.gov.
