> I don't think there would be an alternative to how these tools function if this feature were removed.

Right now, maybe, which is why we haven't just removed it :)

The point of the discussion is to say "this functionality is irreplaceable so we need to design a replacement". If a package can't do monkeypatching when imported for some reason, we should explore what those reasons are and provide a supported way to achieve their goals (or document the existing ways).