(NewsNation) — The Defense Department’s spending bill for the next fiscal year eliminates one word from one line that could affect every woman between the ages of 18 and 26.
The word is “male,” and it is tentatively being purged from the requirement to register with the Selective Service System. It’s not-so-popularly known as the “Draft Our Daughters” bill.
“Women should not be coerced into military service,” Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, told NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live” on Friday.
“This is all part of the gender insanity that this nation is suffering under,” he added.
“You’re conflating the draft with Selective Service,” responded former U.S. Army intelligence officer Melissa Bryant.
“Women have fought and died for our country since its founding,” the Iraq war veteran added.
Currently, all male citizens must register with Selective Service at age 18. But a change in the 2025 fiscal year Pentagon spending bill would make registration automatic and remove the word “male” from requirements.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., led two successful efforts, in 2021 and 2022, to defeat similar amendments, and is expected to lead the attempt again to retain the word “male” in the bill.
A 2021 Ipsos poll last year showed support for extending Selective Service registration to women has decreased over the last several years to 45%. A more recent poll from Rasmussen has 50% opposed and 41% in favor of the proposal.
In 2013, all combat roles were opened to women. Now, two of the uniformed services, the Navy and the Coast Guard, are commanded by women.
“I’m a daughter. I’m a mother,” Bryant said. “We’re showing that women are courageous and are able to do all the things that men are able to do.” She said that registering all Americans ages 18 to 26 “seems to make sense.”
Schilling blames the idea on a government that has “failed to inspire a generation of young people to join the military. People aren’t inspired to join the military because they’ve been taught that America is an evil nation founded on oppression.”
The draft ended in 1973, but the mandate that all young men register was reinstated in 1980. In 2022, women made up about 18% of all active-duty personnel. Proponents contend that leaving women out of Selective Service would severely damage the military’s readiness.
“We want to make sure that women have the same opportunities that men do, and service does not necessarily have to look like a military draft,” Bryant said.
The Hill contributed to this report.
