AUSTIN – Women soldiers in the U.S. Army may march into combat alongside men but last week’s leap for gender equality could draw some dubious reactions if teenage girls are forced to sign up for the draft.

“If you want to go, that’s your decision, but the decision shouldn’t be made for you,” said Rakiya Cunningham, 20, a sophomore majoring in finance at the University of Texas at Austin. “If you’re going to draft women, who’s going to take care of the children?”

The military hasn’t drafted soldiers in more than 40 years, but most male citizens and immigrants, 18 through 25, are required to register with the Selective Service anyway. Failure to sign up is a felony that carries a fine of up to $250,000, a prison term of up to five years, or both.

The idea of making American women register, too, closely followed the Department of Defense’s announcement last week that it is removing gender restrictions for about 220,000 combat-related roles once reserved for men. Among the occupations now open to women: Army infantryman, Marine Corps machine-gunner, Navy SEAL officer and Air Force para-rescue.

Enough talk of drafting girls followed that announcement the Selective Service posted a message on its homepage clarifying that “there has been no decision to require females to register … or be subject to a future military draft.”

Blame the U.S. Supreme Court for suggesting otherwise.

Back in 1981, the court ruled that the Selective Service could legally exclude women from registering because they didn’t serve in combat. Last week, the White House said it will re-evaluate the registration policy in view of the Pentagon’s announcement about combat jobs, set to take effect next year.

Still, for some experts, whether to force young women to sign up — or if excluding them discriminates against men — is part of a bigger discussion about whether the country still needs the Selective Service at all.

“The American people will see justice and equality in requiring women as well as men to register,” said sociologist David Segal, who directs the the University of Maryland’s Center for Research on Military Organization. “Registration is an affirmation that citizenship requires responsibilities as well as payoff.”

But Segal said political leaders lack the will to draft registrants.

“Much of the anti-war movement in Vietnam was anti-draft,” he said. “There would be strong opposition to drafting anybody. Any move to start drafting women will elicit a tremendous amount of opposition.”

Segal’s guess is that policymakers will eventually face two options – register women or stop registering men.

Conscripting soldiers dates to the Civil War. A draft was last held during the Vietnam War, when more than 1.8 million men were inducted into the military over eight and a half years.

The last draftee joined the Army on June 30, 1973, according to Selective Service. The military has been a volunteer force ever since.

But Selective Service remains on “standby,” and most men are required to participate.

Going to work for the government, including the U.S. Postal Service, requires compliance. College students must register to receive financial aid.

In Texas, state employment is contingent upon registration.

As director of the Selective Service from 1979 to 1981, Bernard Rostker was the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that upheld a male-only draft.

Now, he said, the likelihood of drafting women is about the same as drafting men – nil.

“We have been at war for the last 15 years. We haven’t come anywhere close to conscription,” said Rostker, now a senior fellow at Rand Corporation.

The military doesn’t need the number of personnel that a draft would generate, he said. It also demands expertise from soldiers that isn’t found in the general population.

“We’re talking about a professional force, and you don’t get that from conscription,” he said. “All of that makes conscripting women a intellectual exercise, not a practical expectation.”

That suits Kassi Fishback, 19, a sophomore majoring in business at the University of Texas.

“I think the opportunity should be available to females, but we shouldn’t be forced,” she said.

But, for the record, there are women who disagree.

Elizabeth Kyle, 17, of New Jersey, last summer filed a class-action suit against the Selective Service, arguing that the all-male registration law is discriminatory.

“There is no legitimate reason for the government to discriminate against the female class, so equal protection applies,” her complaint said.

A separate federal lawsuit filed by The National Coalition For Men and James Lesmeister, a Texan, argues much the same.

“Women have had all the rights of military life but none of the responsibilities,” said Harry Crouch, the coalition’s president. “Doesn’t that strike you as a bit unfair?”

John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Contact him at jaustin@cnhi.com.