- Target:
- U.S. Citizens
- Region:
- United States of America
The United States has employed conscription intermittently. For example, in 1863 the imposition of a draft during the Civil War touched off the New York Draft Riots. Conscription was next used after the United States entered World War I in 1917.
The first peacetime conscription came with the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. Active conscription ("the draft") ended in 1973. Currently, male U.S. citizens, if aged eighteen through twenty five, are required to register with the Selective Service System, whose mission is "to provide manpower to the armed forces in an emergency" including a "Health Care Personnel Delivery System" and "to run an Alternative Service Program for men classified as conscientious objectors during a draft."
No one has been prosecuted for violating the conscription law in the USA since 1986. Women do not register for Selective Service in the United States, but they may enlist for voluntary service.
We, the undersigned agree with this statement:
Military service should be voluntary. There should be no draft.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The No Military Draft petition to U.S. Citizens was written by David Yardley and is in the category Politics at GoPetition.