In Rostker, the Court concluded that a male only draft registration was justified because, since women are excluded from combat, gender is substantially related to the important interest of having a supply of combat-eligible young men ready to be called up quickly in the event of war.
But doesn't that beg the question? Is the combat exclusion of women unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment? Is gender a good proxy for combat fitness in the modern, high tech military?
Now that women are no longer excluded from combat, is Rostker's reasoning still valid? How would a draft case come out today?
