Controversy has been stirred among women over the recent conclusion of a male birth control study.

Papers, magazines and news sources alike have claimed the study was shut down because of the “whining of men regarding needless side effects.” Any individual who has recently picked up a copy of “Cosmopolitan” magazine or scrolled through Facebook, has likely read that “men are unable to sustain side effects of birth control that women have been dealing with since the ‘60s: acne, mood swings, weight gain or loss.” Women are outraged by the news, and understandably, so given the information provided.

Unbeknownst to many, the study was not shut down simply because men could not handle the side effects. In fact, researchers concluded that the contraceptive being provided for the study was severely dangerous for those taking it. Yes, men did drop out because of the side effects, but not the everyday ones experienced by women who willingly take birth control pills.

The study required men to be in a heterosexual relationship. Both parties went through trials and tests to ensure health and fertility and both had to be accepting of the possibility of pregnancy. The contraceptive men in the trial were given was a two-hormone shot given regularly, meant to decrease sperm count while using it.

Within the first 16 weeks of the trial, there were no notable severe side effects; in fact, there were four pregnancies out of the 266 couples involved in the trial. After 52 weeks, at least 20 men had dropped out because of the effects: infertility after stopping the contraceptive, erectile dysfunction, mood disorders, injection site pain, testicular pain and muscular disturbances to name a few.

None of these are side effects women experience every day; although female contraceptives can cause blood clots. Women experience mood swings, but not mood disorders. Mood disorders are mental illnesses and men experienced illnesses such as depression, aggression and bipolar disorder. One man even committed suicide as a result. The study, despite being shut down because of safety, is still considered successful and the information gained is considered a “medical breakthrough” for male contraceptive research.

The news that men dropped out of the contraceptive study because they could not handle the side effects, ultimately shutting down the study, could be an annoyance to the female reader. Women taking birth control, willingly, at that, experience seemingly horrible side effects such as acne, mood swings and weight gain. This sacrifice is for the primary purpose of avoiding unwanted pregnancies; a concept men are necessary to have happen.

If women have to deal with these side effect to avoid pregnancy, why should men not have to?

The shutdown of this study was the result of a lot more than simple, annoying side effects. It had an effect on mens’ fertility, sex drive and mental stability. The shutdown was necessary, understandable and respectable.

Men should not have to experience mental illness just to avoid a pregnancy and if contraceptives gave women depression, there would be outrage about that too.

It is not the fault of women for being outraged, since a majority of sources provided news such as this and left out the very important detail that the study was deemed severely unsafe by medical professionals. Readers were only given that men dropped out of the study and the side effects were the “same as those women experience on birth control pills.”

The problem here is not that men are wimps and whiners, but instead that readers are experiencing an information asymmetry: not being given the appropriate information regarding the issue.

Instead of rioting because men cannot handle what have been deemed unsafe side effects, we should be demanding all the information around issues of controversy such as this.