Yes, it was. Are you implying that having monthly menstrual periods is what led to an increase in life expectancy? If so, then how did it impact males?
Better nutrition, the mitigating influences of civilization, and ultimately the control of infectious diseases are what increased life expectancy, in my opinion. Causing women to have many menstrual flows did not.
Where do you think the leisure for civilization and all its benefits - including longevity for both men and women - came from? Not from a world where “women did not have a lot of choice when it came to a man wanting to initiate sexual activity.”
The hypothesis is that the “hidden” fertile period of human women was the force that encouraged the brighter man to stay close to home, to better ensure that her children are his. If this is true, then someone was having periods.