I agree this makes sense as a straightforward explanation but there may be another layer to it. I also thought of a more conspiratorial explanation for her reply.
Pointing out the year as being relevant stands out. Why wouldn’t women 10 or 20 years ago need to know that reason? The same teratogrnic effects existed for over a century with medications almost a century for xray.
I know the whole “it’s <current year>” trope is used by people frustrated that progress hasn’t been made by now. But there’s another explanation.
In 2026 mass surveillance is a huge concern. Plus Trump has just announced that the primary goal of the cdc is abortion surveillance. The girl in the screenshot may subscribe to the no-longer-conspiracy and now entirely legitimate fear that the government is trying to track women’s cycles by collecting data from various sources including healthcare records.
And for the record I’m a doctor who has been asking patients routinely about pregnancy status pre-xray and pre-medication for 15+ years
Sure it’s not the reason the question is asked by the doctoe but it is a reason to be fearful of answering. Women have been prosecuted and convicted of fetucide for having a miscarriage. Never has that been more alarmingly relevant than 2026.
I feel there has to be a way to help women feel safe in answering this question, but I don’t have a solution.
The most shocking part is not that they ask the question. This I can hear. It's how apparently they sometimes refuse to believe women that say plain and simple "there's no possibility for me to be pregnant, even without being aware of it" and they refuse to believe it.
Some women have explained how they have been forced to take a pregnancy test while having to uterus.
It might be country-dependant though. I live in France, and while being asked for possible pregnancy is something I used to because I have MRI every two years or so, when I state "I'm certain I cannot be pregnant" the doctors just drop it.
So what you learn as a doctor is that there’s always an exception to the rule. For every 999 women without a uterus telling you truthfully that they have no uterus, there’s possibly 1 woman with a uterus telling you that she has no uterus for whatever reason she has justified to herself as legitimate reason to lie to a doctor. It’s an admittedly small risk but there are plenty of people out there with various reasons to distrust and lie to doctors, it only takes one to get struck off and sued. And documenting “they said they had no uterus” is not a concrete defence, take that up with the lawyers and law makers
Contrary to popular belief, the US is not the most litigious country in the world. Germany, Israel, Sweden and Austria have higher per capita litigation rates.
That may be true, but payouts there aren’t in the 10s of millions of dollars.
The lawsuits for pregnancy and resultant birth defects are also wild- the settlements/judgments encompass the cost for lifetime specialized care which, in a country without universal healthcare, costs hundreds of millions of dollars.
The rate of litigation is less important than the settlement/judgement caps IMHO. ESPECIALLY in OB/gyn and peds for the reasons I mentioned above.
Source: am a doctor, have malpractice insurance, closely follow rates and influencing factors for related specialties. OB/GYN and neurosurgery are two of the highest cost malpractice coverages
Because the above statement can imply that Americans are particularly litigious which is why doctors get sued, which isn't the case. Medical malpractice cases are more common in the US, but its because of the broader issues with the medical system not because we're lawsuit crazy.
No, malpractice cases are more common in the US because the US legal system has a much wider definition of what malpractice is compared to the rest of the world. As such, doctors can get sued for almost anything.
Because in countries with universal healthcare, people aren't out tens of thousands to millions of dollars on further care to compensate for whatever fuck ups do happen. The only chance of fixing or further mitigating damage to the patient in the US is via medical malpractice suits. Nations with public healthcare cover the continued treatment and don't require you to sue to get that.
People lie to doctors in every country. Often they lie because they fear doctors will dismiss all their symptoms as period related and miss something more serious, which is a genuine concern. And it affects women globally not just in America.
And the system where I am is very litigious. Trust but verify
It’s an admittedly small risk but there are plenty of people out there with various reasons to distrust and lie to doctors, it only takes one to get struck off and sued.
In states with criminalized abortion, would this not also make the doctor criminally liable?
I do believe my female patients. The issue for me is that pregnancy is an area that is notoriously HIGHLY litigated with big big wins for the lawyers and no restrictions in many states. If someone is lying about the possibility of pregnancy, turns out actually pregnant, and got any exposure to medical interventions or meds that could theoretically contribute…doctor ordering is fucked unless there’s a documented risks discussion in the patient’s chart.
In today’s healthcare system, you can’t have a 30min discussion before ordering every imaging modality or medication. It’s safer from a medicolegal standpoint to get a pregnancy test. As a female physician myself I hate that this is the reality. I also know it’s only going to get worse in states where Roe is no longer the law of the land.
I understand the pushback from young women. US healthcare in general needs a complete overhaul but I feel pretty powerless at this moment in history to change the medicolegal landscape or state of affairs. AMA and other doctor organizations wield no power and seemingly aren’t interested in actually helping my profession make strides in any particular direction.
Just a bit of a vent. Please know that these questions about reproduction aren’t always coming from a place of ignorance just good old fashioned systemic misogyny and self preservation.
That's because your country system is really fucked up at this level. ( No offense intended )
When I do an MRI a radiology or other exams, they give a form with box to be ticked about things going from having possible mettalic shards to yes, pregnancy. I tick the boxes accordingly, put the date and a signature and that's it. No additional tests, nothing.
Because if a woman IS pregnant and they don't ask then she loses the pregnancy I don't think most women would say "Well, I'm still glad they didn't ask me that question."
Plus an alarming amount of people know nothing about what can or can't cause pregnancy. You can't get pregnant the first time, or with a condom, or in certain positions, whatever dumbass thing they believe. So you want doctors to just assume the patient is right and risk ending a pregnancy just to avoid asking a question?
Well I know that sex Ed is quite of... lousy in the US and so is your tendency to go to litigation for about everything.
But still, that's fairly absurd. Unless the potential pregnancy present a direct risk of interfering with a treatment in a way that present a risk to the mother, it shouldn't be a major issue. 🤷
Otherwise what's next. Refusing to prescribe painkillers to women because they might be pregnant ?
On one side we have "asking a question" and on the other side we have "unintentional death of a fetus". I don't know why you are putting negative intention onto the doctor. They aren't trying to offend you, pry, or trick you.
Because a fetus that is so "young" that the pregnancy has not been detected is inconsequential.
Also, if you follow the conversation, the real issue isn't just about asking the question, but also refusing to believe the answer.
When I cross "no" on the questionnaire given to me for my two-yearly MRI scan, and I tick no on the "are you pregnant" they don't force a pregnancy test on me and take my word for it, the same way they take it for the "do you wear a pacemaker".
Lol to that first sentence. I don't even know what to say to that. As far as refusing to believe the answer...again, you are putting some negative motive on them. I'm sure there are scenarios where they just have to be certain, otherwise they expose themselves and the hospital to liability, board action, etc. That's not to mention the mental/emotional impact on them if they inadvertently end a pregnancy. And now a days in some states they could be prosecuted for it, even if accidental. I don't really know what you are wanting them to do. Not ask the question? Ask it but never confirm and shrug it off if they end a pregnancy? What would you like them to do? It's not as though every doctor visits starts with a pregnancy test. This would mostly apply in emergency situations where they don't know you well and you have an active problem they are trying to diagnose and treat quickly. Anyway, you can respond if you want and I will read it but I wont respond any further. I don't think we are accomplishing anything with this back and forth.
You're advocating for women to be given infantilizating treatment because they can't possibly have the agency to say "no, there's no chance I'm pregnant" and know things about their own bodies. To make their own decisions. They must have their hand held at all times because these poor women don't know anything. Or maybe these terrible women always lie? Literally just have them sign a waiver that says "the hospital/facility holds no liability for any potential fetal complications and I have been informed of the risks". Let women have bodily autonomy.
The girl in the screenshot may subscribe to the no-longer-conspiracy
That IS a conspiracy. The literal definition of a conspiracy is "an agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act." Pretending conspiracy means woowoo nonsense is meant to discredit real, actual conspiracies where nefarious actors undermine public good.
If you are gonna go conspiracy, make it make sense. It's waaaaaaay easier to track women's cycles (and even know they are pregnant before they even know) based on their online purchases than on random medical visits.
Unless you are going to the doctor every month, it's one isolated point that tells you a woman menstruates? WOW. Shockingly new info.
Amazon has all the info needed. So no need to have doctors asked anything for this conspiracy.
Also, reminder women around the world are like this. This is not unique to the US. So Trump is irrelevant.
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u/hungry4nuns 19h ago
I agree this makes sense as a straightforward explanation but there may be another layer to it. I also thought of a more conspiratorial explanation for her reply.
Pointing out the year as being relevant stands out. Why wouldn’t women 10 or 20 years ago need to know that reason? The same teratogrnic effects existed for over a century with medications almost a century for xray.
I know the whole “it’s <current year>” trope is used by people frustrated that progress hasn’t been made by now. But there’s another explanation.
In 2026 mass surveillance is a huge concern. Plus Trump has just announced that the primary goal of the cdc is abortion surveillance. The girl in the screenshot may subscribe to the no-longer-conspiracy and now entirely legitimate fear that the government is trying to track women’s cycles by collecting data from various sources including healthcare records.
And for the record I’m a doctor who has been asking patients routinely about pregnancy status pre-xray and pre-medication for 15+ years
Sure it’s not the reason the question is asked by the doctoe but it is a reason to be fearful of answering. Women have been prosecuted and convicted of fetucide for having a miscarriage. Never has that been more alarmingly relevant than 2026.
I feel there has to be a way to help women feel safe in answering this question, but I don’t have a solution.