Short answer: no. Under current United States law, women cannot be drafted, because women are not required to register with the Selective Service System — and registration is what a draft would draw from.
That has been challenged in court, debated in Congress repeatedly, and came close to changing more than once. But as things stand, the requirement applies to men only.
How the draft actually works
There has been no active draft in the United States since 1973. The military has been all-volunteer ever since. What still exists is the machinery to restart one.
Every man living in the US is required by law to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of turning 18, and stays in the pool until 26. That applies to citizens and to most non-citizen men living in the country, regardless of immigration status.
Registering is not joining. It is putting your name on a list. If Congress and the President ever authorised a draft, that list is where the numbers would come from — which is exactly why the registration requirement is the thing that matters. No registration, no draft eligibility.
Why women are excluded
The exclusion is older than the argument used to defend it.
In 1981 the Supreme Court ruled in Rostker v. Goldberg that excluding women from registration was constitutional. The reasoning was specific: the purpose of a draft is to raise combat troops, women were barred from combat roles at the time, so registering them served no purpose.
That reasoning has since been dismantled by the military itself. In 2013 the combat exclusion policy was lifted, and by 2016 all combat roles — infantry, armour, special operations — were open to women. The factual basis for Rostker no longer exists.
The law did not follow. A federal court in Texas ruled the male-only requirement unconstitutional in 2019, and that decision was overturned on appeal. In 2021 the Supreme Court declined to take the case up again, with several justices noting that the original reasoning had weakened considerably but that Congress was actively considering the issue and should be left to resolve it.
So the position is unusual: the justification is widely accepted as outdated, and the law still stands, because changing it is Congress's job and Congress has not done it.
How close it came to changing
Closer than most people realise.
A congressionally appointed commission studied the question and recommended extending registration to women, concluding it was both fair and militarily sensible. Versions of the annual defence bill have passed one chamber of Congress containing exactly that provision — and it was stripped out before the bill became law each time.
The pattern has now repeated across several years and both parties. The proposal reaches the floor, draws heavy political opposition, and is removed in negotiation. That is why the law has not changed despite fairly broad agreement among defence officials that it should.
Women already serve in every role
It is worth separating two things that often get confused.
Women serve throughout the US military and have been eligible for every combat role since 2016 — infantry, armour, artillery and special operations included. Women have graduated Ranger School and serve in ground combat units. Roughly one in five service members is a woman.
None of that is affected by the draft question. The draft is about compulsory service in a national emergency. Voluntary service has been fully open for years. A woman cannot be drafted, but there is no military job she cannot volunteer for.
What would have to happen for that to change
Two things, in order:
Congress amends the Military Selective Service Act to require women to register, or a court strikes down the male-only provision and it is not reversed on appeal.
Congress and the President then authorise an actual draft — a separate decision, and a far larger one.
Even if the first happened tomorrow, it would only mean women joining the registration list. An active draft requires a national emergency serious enough that the all-volunteer force cannot meet it, and it has not been used in over fifty years.
Frequently asked questions
Can women be drafted in the US?
No. Women are not required to register with the Selective Service, and a draft would draw from that registration pool.
Do women have to register for Selective Service?
No. Registration is required of men aged 18 to 26 only. Women may not register even voluntarily.
Has a woman ever been drafted in the United States?
No. There has been no draft at all since 1973, and women have never been subject to registration.
Why are women excluded if they serve in combat?
The exclusion was upheld in 1981 on the basis that women could not serve in combat. That is no longer true — all combat roles opened by 2016 — but the law has not been updated, because that requires Congress to act.
Could the law change?
Yes. Extending registration to women has been recommended by a federal commission and has passed one chamber of Congress more than once, only to be removed before final passage. It is a live issue rather than a settled one.
Is there a draft right now?
No. The US military has been entirely voluntary since 1973. The Selective Service System still maintains the registration list, but no one is being called up.
What happens if a man does not register?
He can lose eligibility for federal student aid, federal employment and some job training programmes, and in principle faces criminal penalties, though prosecutions are extremely rare.
The bottom line
Women cannot be drafted in the United States, and no one has been drafted since 1973. The exclusion rests on a 1981 ruling whose reasoning the military has since abandoned, and Congress has come close to changing it several times without finishing the job.
If you are weighing military service as a choice rather than an obligation, that is a different question — we covered it in the pros and cons of joining the military and looked at how the branches compare in which branch is easiest to join.