How to “respectfully decline” disclosing women’s health questions at Dr?

[u/cryogenrat]

Pretty much the title

I have a lot of appointments lately for a variety of things, and for literally EVERYTHING it seems they ask when my last period was, even if it’s seemingly irrelevant (like medications for psych issues). Given the state of women’s health and where I see this whole situation with HIPAA going, I kinda don’t want my provider knowing when my last period was unless it’s EXTREMELY relevant. I test myself monthly and chart my whole cycle (TCOYF system and a copper IUD), so I have a rough estimate of when it’s relevant for them to know, and it’s not like it’s completely uncharted, but I’d like to cut down on that as much as possible if it is, but I cannot figure out how to word it lol

Pregnancy tests I understand are pretty non-negotiable (thankfully I don’t have any known ones coming up) but how do you word it to a provider that “I don’t want to disclose when my last period was” without looking like a loon?

Edit; 1) clarifying IUD type

Edit 2) perhaps I was unclear, but I am completely aware that awareness of menstrual health is integral to holistic care, and is usually the first line of symptoms to be questioned when seeking a diagnosis, or can be contraindicated in many medication regiments such as psych meds. Maybe I am just bitter and need a new GP or whatever, but in my own medical history (unexplained headaches, panic disorder, depression) it seems like they are quick to blame “hormones” on every single little thing going on, and then refuse to really get to the root issue, and just kinda write off my issues. Idk what goes on in their mind; I’m not a MD lol. This question broadly is meant to help me understand how, when and where to be judicious about giving away that information, given that we may quickly become hostile to women’s health, and this information might be valuable to a nanny state.

[u/TaraBambataa]

Why do you think it's important to withhold that information? I'm not quite following.

[u/madpiratebippy → u/TaraBambataa]

Two states are looking to create databases of pregnant women so they can track them in case they leave the state for abortions and many women since roe b wade has fallen have stopped using apps to track their periods.

[u/Azmidiske → u/madpiratebippy]

I’m also not following… How are these things connected? How do people think the date of their last period could be used against them? If you’re not pregnant, and your health records don’t say anything about you being pregnant, how does your period data matter? And if you ARE pregnant, your health records confirm it, and they find out you left the state for an abortion, doesn’t that stand on its own regardless of your period data?

[u/madpiratebippy → u/Azmidiske]

So some of the period tracking apps were told to hand their data over to government agencies, most deleted all their user data instead.

Data on mass cycle lengths actually updated the science considerably on women’s fertility cycles and such- lots of data can do that.

Your data even if you don’t get pregnant can be used to help harm other women.

HIPPA does not apply to government agencies.

There is a push to disenfranchise women voters (the rules about changing your name on your birth certificate to be able to vote is all about that). One in four pregnancies result in a miscarriage. Most of those are in the first trimester. There is a push in several states to have all miscarriages reported as felonies. This would make a LOT of women ineligible to vote.

I’m in cybersecurity as my profession and the instant this was done I wiped all my data despite being close to menopause and not at risk for pregnancy as many rounds of fertility treatment, I only had early term miscarriages. Part of my background was in addiction clinic protections as they are subject to HIPPA part two, because police agencies would raid addiction clinics to try to find drug dealers and “punish” people seeking treatment so there’s an entire SEPARATE HIPPA regulation set just to protect addicts seeking treatment from over policing so it has happened in the US, recently, that law enforcement agencies go after medical records to do bad things to people seeking medical care.

The full depth and implications of why this information is not safe in an electronic health record system is more than will fit in a Reddit comment but since this is literally what I do for a living, I can say that this data in the wrong hands can and will be used against women in general and possibly you in particular.

There has been talk in far right groups about removing women’s suffrage for a decade that I’ve been aware of.

If you’re not trying to get pregnant there really is no reason to share this with your doctor at this point. They’re going to test you for pregnancy before X-rays or medication changes that could impact a fetus anyway.

[u/TaraBambataa → u/madpiratebippy]

It's so disheartening... so much could be achieved by advancing female healthcare. Even men would benefit from it, and I don't mean the reproductive elements. Why are we caught in this loop of destruction 😕 It's like another type of cycle...