If something absolutely necessitates using C++, why not use C++? (I'm genuinely asking.)
Also, while working with headerless languages may be easier, calling working with headers 'very painful' is hyperbole.
On OSes for which this is true you'd be forced to compile python yourself as well, because it's also just a dependency (of pip, for one!) written in a compiled language.
Edit: My point is: usually it's as easy as 'yum install', but on the rare occasion you will need to compile, I admit. However, that could happen with pip too; don't tell me its repos are always completely up to date. And in those cases it won't be quite as simple as 'pip install'.
There are IDEs that have their proprietary project formats that are incompatible.
Having header files makes refactoring by hand much more difficult than necessary, yet refactoring tools for C++ are mostly not possible.
Finally, https://gist.github.com/shurcooL/86949a392dcdac1f94cf.