WOMEN VETERANS ASK SUPREME COURT TO HEAR WOMEN'S CONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITY CLAIMS

Today, after months of preparation, a coalition of women veterans organizations and women’s rights organizations formally placed women’s constitutional equality claims before the United States Supreme Court.

The filing did not happen automatically.

It was the result of months of work by women veterans organizations, women’s rights advocates, attorneys, and supporters who believed that women’s constitutional equality claims deserved to be heard.

For months, a series of Selective Service and constitutional equality cases have been moving quietly toward the Supreme Court. Most of the public discussion has focused on whether men are treated unfairly because only men are required to register for the draft.

But there is another question that has received far less attention:

If women are expected to serve, fight, and die alongside men, why are women still denied full constitutional equality?

On May 29, National Women Veterans United, the International Association of Military Women of Color, the National Women’s Political Caucus, and numerous additional organizations filed an amicus brief asking the Court to recognize EQUAL MEANS EQUAL v. Trump as parallel litigation and ensure that women’s constitutional interests are fully represented as these cases move forward.

The brief argues that women deserve more than a seat at the table. Women deserve to have their own constitutional claims heard.

That may sound obvious. It is not.

For years, EQUAL MEANS EQUAL has argued that the central issue is not merely whether women should be included in Selective Service registration. The deeper question is whether women will finally receive the same constitutional protections that courts apply when discrimination is directed at other groups.

That question remains unresolved.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System in conference on June 4. Another related case, Valame v. Trump, is also pending before the Court. We do not know what the Court will do.

What we do know is that women veterans, military women, and advocates for constitutional equality have now formally asked the Court not to decide these issues without hearing the strongest arguments for women’s equality.

The timing is especially meaningful because it comes just days before Women Veterans Day events being organized in Chicago on June 12, where veterans, advocates, and supporters will gather to discuss the future of women’s constitutional rights and the litigation now moving through the courts.

Bringing women’s constitutional equality claims before the Supreme Court required months of legal work, coordination among national organizations, and resources that are significant for a small nonprofit. If you would like to help support this litigation and the work ahead, please consider making a contribution to EQUAL MEANS EQUAL:

https://equalmeansequal.org/?portfolio=brief-of-amici

We will continue to keep you informed as these cases develop.