The overwhelming amount of people that don’t understand why this is a medically necessary thing to ask, somehow has to correlate with the complete lack of nuanced debate to be found here.

I’ll break it down simply;

IF A WOMAN IS PREGNANT- X-RAYS CAN DAMAGE A FETUS. IF A WOMA DOESN’T KNOW SHES PREGNANT- A MENSTRUAL CYCLE CAN INDICATE A TEST BEFORE POTENTIALLY KILLING HER UNBORN FETUS.

also:

CERTAIN MEDICATIONS CAN KILL OR SEVERELY DAMAGE THE HEALTH OF AN UNBORN FETUS.

therefore we can summarize by saying:

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS ARE TRAINED TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS PRIOR TO PERFORMING POTENTIALLY HARMFUL PROCEDURES OR ADMINISTERING POTENTIALLY HARMFUL MEDICATIONS.

Now, is it safe to assume we understand why they don’t ask men this question?

As a woman who absolutely hates the “when was the date of your am last period?” question, if the only reason they want to know the answer to that question is to determine whether or not we are pregnant, why don’t they just have us pee in a cup?

Asking me when my last period was in order for them to determine whether or not I may be pregnant, is kind of like [insert some scenario where the obvious solution to a question is simple but you go about it in a backwards upside down complicated way].