Today I learned that the 19th Amendment (Women's Suffrage) almost wasn't ratified until a Tennessee senator who was against it (Harry Burns) received a letter from his mother telling him to "be a good boy" and vote for ratification. He broke the deadlock the next day and the 19th was ratified.

I know it is easy to jump on the bandwagon, but there are a multitude of legitimate issues.

One major concern is citizen rights vs responsibilities. If one group is given the privileges, but does not have to pay the same price, are they truly equal? Or is one more important or privileged?

Women gaining the vote and not being subject to selective service and the draft is a sign of inequality. Men must answer their nation's call in order to receive their rights, while women are given their rights unconditionally.

This debate has been ongoing for a very long time, and now with combat roles being opened to women by Congress (who is in charge of managing the military), we will see what will happen.

Often, when this debate is brought up, whether women should have the same responsibilities as men as citizens, the topic is detailed by someone saying: "Well, the draft is wrong and no one should be subjected to it!" And the discussion goes off track as planned.

So, until selective service and the draft is made illegal, what should we do?

I would argue that making women subject to selective service and the draft would very quickly bring about either the end of the draft, or at least the end of American Jingoism. Sending unwilling women to war? That would be political suicide.

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