When in a sexual relationship, both parties should be equally responsible for providing protection against pregnancy.

“The pill and female sterilization have been the two most commonly used methods [of contraceptives] since 1982,” according to a 2016 report by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization dedicated to the advancement of reproductive health.

When it comes to birth control in intimate relationships, the responsibility often falls on women to get the majority of the contraceptives.

“More than 99 percent of women age 15 to 44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method,” according to a 2013 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is significantly more than the data given on men.

The CDC reported only 19.0 percent of men age 15 to 44 used a condom every time they had intercourse in the past 12 months.

This completely disregards the high cost, stigma and responsibility that comes with purchasing contraceptives. Birth control can be prohibitively expensive, especially when not covered by insurance.

Condoms are very affordable on an individual basis, each one costing anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar per use, according to a 2016 report by the Guttmacher Institute. Despite how cheap condoms are on an individual basis, their use can add up to substantial amounts of money over the course of a year, yet it is much less than the typical 30 years a woman spends trying to avoid pregnancy. Brand-name versions of the pill, patch or ring can cost $60 or more a month if paid for without any assistance.

For many women, especially those 15 to 44 who are of reproductive age, these costs can be daunting, even those with insurance coverage. On average the pill accounted 29 percent of privately insured women’s annual out-of-pocket health expenditures during 2010, according to 2016 study by Guttmacher Institute, a sexual health and reproductive rights research organization.

“It’s expensive if you don’t have insurance, but if you do have insurance, then it’s fine,” said Kendra Winters, freshman fashion design major.

Those in an intimate relationship should split the cost of whatever method of protection they are using. The prices for female contraceptives aren’t cheap, especially not for someone who may be going to school or who has a low-paying job. To be fair and equal, the cost of contraception should be split equally between partners.

While it is currently in development, there is no birth control pill available for men, according to the Reproductive Health Division of the Centers for Disease Control. The cost of contraceptives on women is not just financial. There are serious health side effects that can be caused by birth control.

“Researchers in Denmark report that women taking hormonal contraceptives — like birth control pills, the patch, the ring and hormonal IUDs — have up to triple the risk of suicide as women who never took hormonal birth control,” according to a 2017 article by The American Journal of Psychiatry.

“[The side effects] suck because there are too many,” said Winters.

The side effects of condoms are in no way comparable when taking these facts into consideration. Most people can use condoms free of any side effects. Rarely do latex condoms cause irritation for people with latex allergies, and sometimes the lube on certain condoms can be an irritant, according to the Planned Parenthood website.

When the male version of birth control is released, men should be equally responsible to take it. Women have their versions of condoms, vasectomy and tubal ligation. It is time for there to be complete equality when it comes to birth control methods.