Yes — if the government were to keep a male-only draft registration system, a Supreme Court challenge is very likely.

Here’s the legal background in plain terms:

Current law (as of 2026)

The U.S. still requires men ages 18–25 to be registered with the Selective Service, and beginning later this year the government is moving to automatic registration for eligible men. Women are not currently included. 

That means the issue you’re asking about is very real.

Why it could be challenged

The constitutional issue would be equal protection / sex discrimination under the Fifth Amendment.

The argument would be:

• men are required to register

• women are not

• both men and women can now serve in combat roles

• therefore the old justification may no longer apply

This is important because in 1981, the Supreme Court in Rostker v. Goldberg upheld male-only registration.

But that decision was based largely on the fact that women were barred from combat roles at the time.

That is no longer true.

The Court has already been asked

This exact issue already reached the Supreme Court in 2021 in National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System.

The Court declined to hear the case, but importantly it did not say the system is definitely constitutional forever.

Instead, several justices basically said:

Congress is already considering the issue, so the Court will wait.

That leaves the door open for a future challenge.

My honest legal read

If a draft were ever actually activated while still excluding women, I would expect an immediate constitutional lawsuit, and it would have a serious chance of reaching the Supreme Court.

Many legal scholars think the old Rostker reasoning is much weaker now because women have served in all military roles since 2015. 

So yes — a Supreme Court challenge would be highly likely.

Whether the Court would strike it down is harder to predict, but the challenge itself is almost certain.

If you want, I can explain how the Roe / equal protection arguments some people are making this week connect to this issue, because that’s been a major discussion point online today.