(Photo Credit: Airman 1st Class Harry Brexel)

Will women be considered for the draft?

As tensions rise between the United States and Iran, a federal judge ruled that requiring only men to register for the military draft violates the Constitution.

For decades, men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five have been required to register for the draft. The draft has not been used since the Vietnam War. Still, Judge Gray Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, said women should be required to register, too.

“If there ever was a time to discuss ‘the place of women in the Armed Services,’ that time has passed,” Miller wrote. He said the male-only draft was discriminatory and must be abolished.

At least one group, the National Coalition For Men, praised the decision. “After decades of sex discrimination against men in the Selective Service, the courts have finally found it unconstitutional to force only men to register. Even without a draft, men still face prison, fines, and denial of federal loans for not registering or for not updating the government of their whereabouts. Since women will be required to register with the Selective Service, they should face the same repercussions as men for any noncompliance,” said Marc Angelucci, the group’s attorney.