US bishops oppose including women on registry for a military draft

NEW YORK – As Congress inches towards passing the annual defense bill, leaders of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference are urging the Senate to remove a provision that would require women to add their name to the registry if there is ever another military draft.

“The USCCB has long held that the practice of making military service an option for women, but not an obligation, has served us well in society,” three USCCB chairmen wrote in a Dec. 4 letter to Congressional leaders. “As a result, we oppose the Senate bill’s provision requiring women be automatically registered to the Selective Service.”

The provision is currently included in the Senate’s version of the annual defense bill, but not the House’s. The bishops’ letter preceded a Dec. 5 letter eight Republican senators sent to the bill’s top negotiators also requesting the provision be removed.

The USCCB letter on the defense bill, formally known as the “National Defense Authorization Act,” was signed by Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, president of the USCCB; Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities; and Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration.

It was addressed to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. It made several requests, all of which, other than the draft provision, pertained to both Congressional chambers.

The USCCB chairmen also urged Congressional leaders to add provisions to the defense bill to allow Afghan parolees in the United States to apply for permanent status with a pathway to citizenship, to codify the position of coordinator for Afghan relocation efforts, and to authorize additional Special Immigrant Visas.

More than 70,000 Afghans have received humanitarian parole in the United States since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The USCCB has worked alongside the government and other entities to help resettle many of those Afghan refugees, and it works with them still.

“We reaffirm the moral imperative to provide full and permanent integration for those already relocated to the United States and to continue facilitating lawful pathways for those who remain outside of the country and vulnerable to persecution because of their assistance [to the United States],” the USCCB chairmen wrote.

In the letter, the three bishops also made pro-life recommendations. They urged Congress to overturn a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rule allowing abortion in VA programs, as well as a Department of Defense memorandum on “Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care,” which provides administrative leave and paid travel allowances for service members to get an abortion.

Instead, the bishops call for “Congress to provide authentic support for women, children, and families, while ensuring that federal resources are not used to facilitate, promote, or provide abortion.”

“Undoing the DOD and VA policies would restore and be aligned with longstanding Hyde principles,” the bishops wrote. “The USCCB, therefore, urges retention of the provisions in the House NDAA which would prohibit payment and reimbursement by the DOD for expenses relating to abortion services.”

“Hyde” refers to the Hyde Amendment of 1976, which bans the use of federal funds for abortion.

Further, the USCCB chairmen opposed the possible expansion of in vitro fertilization, which they argue results “in the destruction of interminable freezing of millions of unborn children.”

“As pastors, we grieve with many families who struggle with infertility and we support restorative reproductive fertility methods, which are an ethical and comprehensive approach to address the root causes of infertility and which are often more effective and affordable,” the chairmen wrote.

“Consequently, we strongly oppose the NDAA’s proposed expansion of TriCare coverage for IVF and urge that this coverage be excluded from any final bill,” they continued, referring to the uniformed services health care program.