What does begging the question actually mean?
In its original logical sense, begging the question means assuming the truth of the thing you are trying to prove. It is a form of circular reasoning, not a way of saying "this raises a question".
This policy is the best option because no better option exists.
That argument proves nothing. The conclusion is smuggled into the premise. That is begging the question.
The phrase is a translation — and a poor one — of the Latin petitio principii, itself a translation of a Greek phrase from Aristotle meaning something closer to "assuming the initial point". The English word question here means the point at issue in a debate, not an interrogative sentence. Beg means to request that it be granted. So the phrase originally meant "asking your opponent to grant you the very thing you are supposed to be proving".
None of that is recoverable from the modern English words, which is exactly why the meaning drifted.
The common modern use — the delay begs the question: what happens next? — means "raises the question" or "invites the question". Purists object, on the grounds that the original sense names a specific logical fallacy for which there is no other short phrase, while "raises the question" already exists for the other meaning.
The realistic position: the newer sense is now far more common and appears in edited publications. But in philosophy, law or any argumentative writing, using it that way will read as an error to the people most likely to be reading closely.
If you mean "raises the question", write that. It is unambiguous and nobody objects to it.