Sixty-two percent of women of reproductive age are using a contraceptive for birth control. Women have many different birth control options: the pill, the shot, the implant, the patch, or abstinence. However, the options for men are few: condoms and abstinence.

A common question in the minds of many women: “Why don’t men have a bigger responsibility in regard to birth control?” Fair question. With all of the different forms of birth control that women have available, why are there not more for men? Why does so much of this huge responsibility have to fall upon the woman?

The contraceptives women use have many side effects (whereas condoms have little to no side effects). Some of the most common side effects are intermenstrual spotting (bleeding in between your regular periods), nausea, breast tenderness, headaches, weight gain, mood changes, missed periods, decreased libido, vaginal discharge, and visual changes with contact lenses. Women are not only responsible for taking and paying for the birth control, but are also forced to put up with the negative side-effects, too.

Recently there was a study on male birth control, and even though it was almost 100 percent effective, it ended due to there being too many side effects. During this study 320 men were given shots every eight weeks. The shot consisted of two different hormones, decreasing their sperm count greatly.  The side effects that were seen through this study were the same we see with women’s birth control, except for the severe emotional changes or problems. One man developed severe depression, and another attempted suicide. These are obvious reasons to end a study, although I still feel that they should tweak the medicine a bit, and re-test it, because some women who are on birth control are also using antidepressants. According to Jacinta Bowler of the online news source Science Alert, 23 percent of women who are on the pill are also using antidepressants, while for women on the mini pill (only contains progestin) that number increases to 34 percent.

As many of you may not know, when women’s birth control was first being tested, researchers had a difficult time finding women to participate in the study, due to the side effects. They then forced women to participate. They made women in mental hospitals and medical school participate in the trials. According to Bethy Squires of Broadly, an online news source, “These women weren’t told what the pill was for; instead, they were supposed to shut up, take their medicine, and submit to frequent, invasive medical exams.” This is a disgusting. The thought of people forcing others to take a drug that has so many horrible side effects makes me squeamish. This is showing the sexism we have had in our world for a long time. The trials with the men were not forced, and they knew very well what they were getting into, unlike the women.

Birth control in general is a horrible, but necessary, evil. If you don’t want to have children right now, but might in the future, you don’t want to get your tubes tied or a vasectomy. Birth control can act as an alternative. No matter where you stand on this topic, you should think about all of the side effects, and the sexism, that is wrapped up in this.