Withdrawing jurisdiction

In May 1981, the Supreme Court was considering whether to compel women to be drafted, in the case of Rostker v. Goldberg. Phyllis Schlafly and an ally of hers in Congress introduced legislation (see below) to withdraw jurisdiction from the courts if needed to prevent women from being drafted. The following month a divided Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not compel drafting women, based on the then-existing exclusion of women from combat.

Nearly thirty-five years later the Obama Administration removed that exclusion of women from combat, and some now argue that the Constitution requires that the Selective Service registration apply to women just as it does to men.