Posted on Jul 17, 2015
"Teen Girl Sues So She Can Legally Sign Up for the Draft"
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From: Yahoo
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Women have long been welcome to join all branches of the military, and since the ban on combat was lifted in 2013, they’ve been able to fight in battle for their country as well.
But only men are required to register for the draft through the Selective Service System, which they must do after they turn 18, even though the U.S. hasn’t had a draft since 1973.
So when Elizabeth Kyle-LaBell, a recent high school grad from New Jersey who is contemplating becoming a military veterinarian, tried to register on the Selective Service’s website, she was barred from doing so as soon as she checked the box indicating her sex.
Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth, who goes by Liz, says that’s discrimination. “I hadn’t even entered my age yet when the website directed me to a page saying I couldn’t register,” Kyle-LaBell tells Yahoo Parenting. “I feel that if a woman wants to register for the draft, she should be able to.”
To overturn what she describes as a policy that violates women’s civil rights, Kyle-LaBell and her mom, Allison Kyle, filed a class-action lawsuit against the Selective Service System. As a minor, Kyle-LaBell wasn’t able to file it herself, so her mother filed on her behalf, she says.
“With both males and females available for such roles today, the two sexes are now similarly situated for draft registration purposes, and there is no legitimate reason for the government to discriminate against the female class, so equal protection applies,” the complaint, which identifies Kyle-LaBell by her initials, E.K.L., states.
“Further, with both males and females available for such combat roles, there is no reasonable basis for infringing the associational interests of the female class by preventing them from registering.”
The suit aims to overturn a 1981 Supreme Court decision that upheld the men-only draft registration rule. “The court decided that the draft is there to create a pool of people who can be in combat, and since women were barred from combat, it wasn’t discrimination to bar them from the draft,” Roy Den Hollander, Kyle-LaBell’s attorney, tells Yahoo Parenting. “Now women are allowed to be in combat, but they still can’t register.”
While he can’t comment on the pending lawsuit, Pat Schuback, public affairs specialist for the Selective Service System, tells Yahoo Parenting that his agency isn’t opposed to allowing women to sign up. “We’re not opposed to women registering; we just follow the law.”
Since the suit was just filed and no court date has been set, Kyle-LaBell is spending her summer like other new high school grads, scoring support for her bold move from her friends and preparing for her freshman year of college at Moravian College in Pennsylvania.
Her goal is to make the draft gender-neutral: either both men and women should be required to register or it should be voluntary for both sexes. “If women are allowed to fight in a war, we should be allowed to sign up for the draft,” she says.
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/teen-girl-sues-so-she-can-legally-sign-up-for-the [login to see] 52.html
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Women have long been welcome to join all branches of the military, and since the ban on combat was lifted in 2013, they’ve been able to fight in battle for their country as well.
But only men are required to register for the draft through the Selective Service System, which they must do after they turn 18, even though the U.S. hasn’t had a draft since 1973.
So when Elizabeth Kyle-LaBell, a recent high school grad from New Jersey who is contemplating becoming a military veterinarian, tried to register on the Selective Service’s website, she was barred from doing so as soon as she checked the box indicating her sex.
Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth, who goes by Liz, says that’s discrimination. “I hadn’t even entered my age yet when the website directed me to a page saying I couldn’t register,” Kyle-LaBell tells Yahoo Parenting. “I feel that if a woman wants to register for the draft, she should be able to.”
To overturn what she describes as a policy that violates women’s civil rights, Kyle-LaBell and her mom, Allison Kyle, filed a class-action lawsuit against the Selective Service System. As a minor, Kyle-LaBell wasn’t able to file it herself, so her mother filed on her behalf, she says.
“With both males and females available for such roles today, the two sexes are now similarly situated for draft registration purposes, and there is no legitimate reason for the government to discriminate against the female class, so equal protection applies,” the complaint, which identifies Kyle-LaBell by her initials, E.K.L., states.
“Further, with both males and females available for such combat roles, there is no reasonable basis for infringing the associational interests of the female class by preventing them from registering.”
The suit aims to overturn a 1981 Supreme Court decision that upheld the men-only draft registration rule. “The court decided that the draft is there to create a pool of people who can be in combat, and since women were barred from combat, it wasn’t discrimination to bar them from the draft,” Roy Den Hollander, Kyle-LaBell’s attorney, tells Yahoo Parenting. “Now women are allowed to be in combat, but they still can’t register.”
While he can’t comment on the pending lawsuit, Pat Schuback, public affairs specialist for the Selective Service System, tells Yahoo Parenting that his agency isn’t opposed to allowing women to sign up. “We’re not opposed to women registering; we just follow the law.”
Since the suit was just filed and no court date has been set, Kyle-LaBell is spending her summer like other new high school grads, scoring support for her bold move from her friends and preparing for her freshman year of college at Moravian College in Pennsylvania.
Her goal is to make the draft gender-neutral: either both men and women should be required to register or it should be voluntary for both sexes. “If women are allowed to fight in a war, we should be allowed to sign up for the draft,” she says.
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/teen-girl-sues-so-she-can-legally-sign-up-for-the [login to see] 52.html
Posted in these groups: 
Women in the Military
Equality
Women in the Military Equality
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 38
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https://www.sss.gov/Registration/Women-And-Draft
I think before she sues she should read this site and understand it before causing an uproar. She wants to join then she should just march on down to the recruiter's office just like I did 6 years ago (I'm a female by the way) and fill out the paper work and join. NOT that hard, rather it is very simply.
I think before she sues she should read this site and understand it before causing an uproar. She wants to join then she should just march on down to the recruiter's office just like I did 6 years ago (I'm a female by the way) and fill out the paper work and join. NOT that hard, rather it is very simply.
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I have said for a long time that since most women want equality, they should have to sign up for the draft. Kudos to her.
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This just sounds like someone who a) wants attention and b) wants to look patriotic and awesome without actually having to raise her right hand. Go down to the recruiting office and enlist if you really have your heart set on it.
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I wonder how the population of 18yr. old females feel about this. Be interesting to know. Semper fi.
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Symbolism over substance...If she wants to serve, enlist or go the commission route then there is no need to register. She isn't a patriot because she files a lawsuit because she cannot check a box on a website and get what she wants.
Men are required to sign up because if we have to draft, men are drafted, in many/most cases for combat arms MOS's which are not all open to women. If that ever happens then I suspect they will update the selective service system. Until then how about signing on the line and serving without trying to create a cause that isn't really needed (put a sock in your pie hole). There is also the reality that only a small percentage of women even join the armed forces this is just another attention stunt. I think everyone with a functioning brain stem knew that women were not required to sign up for selective service. So what.
Men are required to sign up because if we have to draft, men are drafted, in many/most cases for combat arms MOS's which are not all open to women. If that ever happens then I suspect they will update the selective service system. Until then how about signing on the line and serving without trying to create a cause that isn't really needed (put a sock in your pie hole). There is also the reality that only a small percentage of women even join the armed forces this is just another attention stunt. I think everyone with a functioning brain stem knew that women were not required to sign up for selective service. So what.
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Give me a break, I'm tired of these morons whining about there civil rights being violated. When she turns 18 she can enlist. Maybe she can get SCOTUS to create new rights. If they can find one for Sodomy they surely can find one for the draft. And does she know that there isn't a draft.
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Women will be required to register for the draft during the next event that warrants it.
Why is this not public knowledge? It will cost money to change all the Selective Service forms, processes and legal procedures associated with it. In addition to incurring the cost, when there is really no impending need to. No politician in their right mind would risk the wrath of every parent with daughters at or nearing draft age, nor would they risk a sure fire no vote from every woman in the same age range that wonders if this whole feminist movement has gone too far.
Equal pay for equal work, equal sacrifices!
Why is this not public knowledge? It will cost money to change all the Selective Service forms, processes and legal procedures associated with it. In addition to incurring the cost, when there is really no impending need to. No politician in their right mind would risk the wrath of every parent with daughters at or nearing draft age, nor would they risk a sure fire no vote from every woman in the same age range that wonders if this whole feminist movement has gone too far.
Equal pay for equal work, equal sacrifices!
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SSgt David Love
I do find it interesting that failing to register for Selective Service, as a male, will eliminate you from a number of government programs, as well as a good number of government positions. (I could see that being used in an "equal rights" argument to set a legal precedent for some objector wanting equal benefits.)
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Good for her! She understands that women will never be truly equal until they are equal in every way. Any time you make concessions to a group of people you identify them as inferior. It doesn't matter if you are protecting women from the draft or setting a lower PT standard, it all goes toward a mindset that they are not equal.
She should just register as transgendered and they would happily accept her.
She should just register as transgendered and they would happily accept her.
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