@Darth_Algar is absolutely right. Kids still have to register, or not receive their high school diplomas, enter college or, quite often, not be able to apply for work. It’s out there waiting for them when the government gets desperate enough to use it. But the government knows their American history. Calling in the draft for any reason other than a foreign military attack on this country will incite the kind of destabilization we had in the 1960s.
Once the citizenry smells weakness and fear in the government, everyone with a bitch will be out in the streets clamoring for long-overdue change. In the 1960s, it was the Anti-War demonstrators, the feminists, LBGQ, the radical Muslims, the Black Panthers, the ecology people—everybody all at once. And don’t forget the rather large, already existent Civil Rights movement. The CRM ramped up under this destabilization remarkably.
Drafting kids into a war based on government lies was the catalyst for all of that. The US very nearly devolved into anarchy.
Many of the changes these groups demanded are evident today. So, it’s not an atogether bad thing, it’s just not the ideal way to facilitate change. In 1967, for example, 130 cities were set on fire by various pissed off groups. And the government remembers.
So, athough the draft is not abolished, the gov. is very reluctant to use it.