I have been saying, to the irritation of my friends on the left, that abortion has nothing to do with women’s health.

One of the original questions the Supreme Court had to deal with in the 1970s when it approved this “slaughter law” was, when does life begin? Well, all of the academics and doctors who were willing to take some money and testify said life did not start until the third trimester.

Remember, this was a time when cancer was almost always fatal. AIDS was a death sentence, and in some cases, people still died from the flu.

Medicine has come a long way since then. And now, many agree, scientists and doctors alike, that life begins at conception or shortly thereafter.

Dr. Bill Fifer, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, said, “Everything that a newborn baby does, a fetus has pretty much done already.” He said: “We know that a baby’s tiny heart is beating as early as 18 days after sperm-egg fusion. Brain waves are detectable by 6 weeks and babies can experience dream (REM) sleep by 17 weeks. Substantial medical and scientific evidence has demonstrated that unborn children are capable of feeling pain by 20 weeks, if not earlier.”

Not Joe Messina’s opinion, but science. This is now the understanding of many in the medical field. However, I am still perplexed. You see, the left continually beats on right-wing, conservative, Bible-thumping Republicans (like me) for not believing in science but rather the fairy tales of the Bible.

And yet, when confronted by science and facts – not theories like, let’s say, evolution – that don’t line up with their way of thinking, they ignore them and tell us we hate women (in the case of our abortion stance). Why? Because it is easier than discussing the facts.

So, if at 18 days that little blob of cells has a heartbeat, what can we call it? What will it eventually be? A canine? A fish? A tree? Nope. Simply, a human. Its only potential outcome is that it is a developing human.

Now with science we can see, with sonograms and 3D imagery, what the baby looks like. We can’t run from that truth. Our youth are seeing it more and more and are changing the way they view abortion.

So, then: It is a life. But what about the argument for years from the left and the pro-abortion groups that it’s not a life? As of late, some of the abortion proponents are saying life begins when the mother says it does; that the unborn blob of cells can be snuffed out even up to the time it’s exiting the birth canal.

Wow. That’s a stretch.

But wait. Jodi Jacobson, editor in chief of RH Reality Check, a “reproductive and sexual health and justice” blog, says it was never when life beings because “life begins at conception.” Huh?

OMG. Wasn’t the abortion debate all about women having access to clean, safe medical facilities so that when they were seeking this “medical procedure” the mother’s health would not be at risk? The fetus, or as it has been called, this “blob of cells,” needed to be removed to save the mother.

You were duped. Like all things Democrat, there were chapters and chapters between the lines that they hid from you.

According to Ms. Jacobson, this has always been a right to give a woman total control over her body. Well, one thing we can agree on, women should have control of their own bodies. Yes, she should definitely control it. If she doesn’t want a baby, then she should keep her clothes on. If she can’t do that, then at least have protected sex. And if she can’t do that, well then, what kind of control does she really have over her body anyway?

We have come to that point in society where life has no value. If you believe in science, then the baby exists at a minimum within the first 20 days. What makes that life less valuable than the mother’s life? Because the mother says so? Talk about playing God.

Now, understand, even to the irritation of my Christian friends, I am pro-choice but anti-abortion. I believe God gave us choice, so who am I to take it away? God allows you to love or to hate. Love your kids or abuse your kids. Kill or give life. Lie or tell the truth. Help others or help no one. It’s your choice. So, to my Christian friends, the law changes nothing. God saw that His people weren’t abiding by the 10 Commandments He gave them, so He sent Jesus with two simpler ones, and they work just fine.

When it comes to the abortion debate, it boils down to this. People want what they want, and they don’t want to be told what to do.

Ladies, if it’s all about you wanting to control your body, then control it. When you lose control, don’t tag us with the cost of your abortion or contraception pills or the medical and mental treatment you might need because of what you did. Why do we have to pay for your inability to control something you have forced us to allow you to choose?

Be an adult. Be responsible. There are 35 couples waiting for every one baby put up for adoption in this country. More than half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. Really? Are condoms not available in some parts of this country? From what I can see, they are at every gas station.

Even though abortion is actually on the decrease, abortions are up among poorer Americans, mostly the black community (Margaret Sanger must be very proud). Four of every 10 pregnancies end in abortion. Nine of 10 abortions happen within the first 12 weeks (when the heart is beating and many of the “human” functions are forming). Fifty-six percent are unmarried and 70 percent say they have a religious affiliation (although I don’t know which one).

I have said all of that to say: We were lied to. If this were really a women’s health issue, then prove it. Currently, the fights are about abortion on demand for just about any reason, and that now includes gender and race selection. Yep, you read that right: race.

Does life have value or not? Is one life worth more than another? Says who? And why do you get to play God?

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also the current president of the Hart School Board. His commentary publishes Mondays.