By Pat Centner, AFA Journal staff writer
July 2002 – “In seafaring days, when a vessel was sinking, the call for ‘women and children first!’ was made. They were rushed into the lifeboats in an effort to save their lives first. Today, society has lost that respect and reverence for the lives of women and children, and often puts them at odds with each other. By the thousands, women are maiming themselves and destroying the lives of their children in a misguided attempt at self-preservation. ... If we hope to have a future where all life is respected, we need to once again put Women and Children First. ”
These words issue a call for help on the Women and Children First Website created by pro-life activist Steven Ertelt of Helena, Montana. The analogy goes to the very heart of what he believes. As a result, he has established a nonprofit organization and several online Web sites to educate, involve and assist individuals around the world concerning pro-life issues ranging from abortion to euthanasia.
Women and Children First www.womenandchildrenfirst.org.
Ertelt and his fianceé, Sally Winn, have been pro-life champions many years. Ertelt led Montana’s Right to Life until recently, and Sally currently serves as vice-president of Feminists for Life in Washington, D.C.
In a desire to use the Internet as a pro-life tool, the couple formed Women and Children First (WCF) in 1996. WCF is a nonprofit organization that serves as the umbrella under which several Web sites devoted to various pro-life matters function.
Pregnancy Centers Online www.pregnancycenters.org. (no longer active)
This site is for mothers considering abortion, as well as those who have had an abortion and need healing and support. An online listing of pregnancy care centers in all 50 states and Canada, as well as E-mail-based assistance from leading counselors nationwide are just two of the numerous services offered.
Roe v. Wade www.roevwade.org (no longer active)
Contains information on the Supreme Court case, along with data about the consequences of abortion and why abortion is not pro-woman.
“There’s a kind of pro-woman message emerging now, and it’s something many groups are focusing on,” comments Ertelt. “When you learn that abortion and breast cancer are linked, and realize the potential for thousands of women to get breast cancer as the result of an abortion; when you look at statistics that show a high divorce rate as well as increased drug and alcohol abuse among women having abortions; and when you think of the 40 million lives that have been snuffed out by abortion, you realize how critical it is that a basic respect for women, children and the very concept of life be restored.”
Pro-Life Infonet E-mail Service
Ertelt’s online activism began in 1992 when he and a friend decided to use the Internet to quickly distribute pro-life news. “This was before the World Wide Web was even created,” he explains, “but we were already convinced of the Internet’s power.” Sending regular mail and getting a response might take a week or two, but an E-mail could accomplish the same thing in less than 24 hours.
Today, more than 40,000 subscribers to Pro-Life Infonet receive news, commentary and other pro-life information. (To subscribe, send the message “subscribe” to: [email protected], and indicate your choice for the daily or weekly version.)
Ultimate Pro-Life Resource List www.profileinfo.org (no longer active)
“I created the Resource List in 1995 so people could go to one place on the Internet and get pretty much anything they need on life issues,” says Ertelt. With more than one million visitors, Ultimate’s pages provide a wealth of information, including opinion and research articles, links to pro-life organizations nationwide, and the latest on euthanasia, cloning and assisted suicide.
What’s next?
Until recently, Ertelt operated WCF and the Web sites during spare hours and on weekends. But the Lord has been at work in his life in radical ways, and he stepped down from his position at Montana Right to Life in order to relocate to Washington, D.C. in late June. There are two primary reasons for the move.
First, he will be re-marrying Sally Winn. “After much soul-searching, prayer and reflection, we have decided to renew our commitment to each other,” says Ertelt. “We want to honor God and the vows we made before Him.” The couple will live outside Washington with daughters Emily and Hannah.
Second, Ertelt wants to take WCF “to a new level,” and since Washington is the center for pro-life legislation, he believes it is the ideal place to be.
“The number of people using our services is growing every day,” Ertelt remarks, “and we’re ready to evolve the Pro-Life Infonet into something brand new. Over the next year it will become an all-original news reporting service, with a vision for eventually making it the “Associated Press of the pro-life movement.”
“The Infonet is currently a news-clipping service, and the problem with that is the bias that’s typically written into pro-life news by the ‘secular’ media. We hope to add a couple of staff members this year, and eventually have a cadre of journalists, reporters and freelance writers who will write accurate information about pro-life issues. We will then funnel the news to Christian media outlets who won’t have to ‘dig out’ the bias that’s inherently there.”
Ertelt says he’s excited about these new changes in his personal and professional life, and looks forward to serving the pro-life community in more innovative ways. 
