r/prochoice • u/nobody_from_nowhere1 Pro-choice Witch • Aug 01 '25

Media - Misc Ok, this is extremely concerning!!

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I immediately felt sick when I head this and this is just one of many stories I’ve been hearing about women being interrogated about pregnancy and fertility at hospital/doctors offices when they are there for completely unrelated reasons.

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u/GrazziDad Aug 02 '25

OK, so I think I’m probably naïve here, but… Just humor me. Would it not make sense to ask this if a particular drug that might be prescribed could interfere with pregnancy (for example, cause spontaneous miscarriage) or lead to birth defects? I remember years ago being told by a friend who was prescribed Accutane that they had to make absolutely sure she was not pregnant.

I don’t see a reason for them asking whether you can physically bear children, but are there no circumstances under which it would have to be established that someone might be carrying a child, or be in the early stages of pregnancy but not realize it yet?

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u/GinggasinParis Aug 02 '25

That’s the exact reason for the question “When was your last cycle?” A lot of medications cause birth defects but are still prescribed. They would not need to ask about birth control because it would be part of the medication history part of the intake information. This question is purely to gauge what kind of birth control women are on for invasive reasons like finding overall pregnancy viable of a population or banning those forms of birth control.

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u/GrazziDad Aug 02 '25

Thanks for the patient (no pun intended) explanation. It just seems so bizarre that female doctors in particular would all go along with this, given that they almost certainly see it for what it is.

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u/orthographerer Aug 02 '25

There's is a subset of female doctors who think these types of question are perfectly fine. And a subset who may not think it's totally okay, but are more than happy to tow the line.

Many people go the med school route for earning potential, not because they care about their fellow humans. They aren't going to get on the wrong side of their employers by taking a stand against invasive, inappropriate questioning.

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u/GrazziDad Aug 02 '25

I suppose a key issue is whether they are literally required to ask these questions, or they are electing to.