Anti-Choice Organizations in Niagara
Please note that this page makes reference to organizations whose activities and websites may be triggering for some, and we encourage folks to use caution if doing further research on your own.
Know of an anti-choice group or organization that’s not listed here?
Email us at niagarareproductivejustice@gmail.com.
See anti-choice ads or protestors? We want to hear about it.
Local Crisis Pregnancy Centres
Crisis Pregnancy Centres are anti-abortion fake clinics that target people seeking abortion and attempt to trick them into coming to their centre instead of an actual medical centre. They provide falsified information about the risks associated with abortion.
For more information on CPCs in Niagara and their harmful tactics, see our zines, “The Truth About Crisis Pregnancy Centres in Niagara” and “Spotlight: Fake Clinic Clarity Pregnancy Options”, available on our Materials page.
Previously known as Elisha House, Clarity Pregnancy Options is a Crisis Pregnancy Centre (CPC) that uses falsified scientific reports and fear-mongering to trick people experiencing unintended pregnancies into not getting abortions. They pose as a non-judgmental pregnancy resource centre, but their goal is to prevent people from accessing resources that don’t align with their anti-abortion agenda. They recently rebranded to “Clarity Pregnancy Options” and “Insight Biblical Counselling” in order to prevent the new conversion therapy bills and other legislation from affecting their funding and charitable status.
They have three locations: 263 Division Street in Welland, 226 Merritt Street in St. Catharines (housed in the “Youth Unlimited” building), and 4099 Portage Road (also listed as 4113 Drummond Road) in Niagara Falls (housed in the “Perch for Women” building). They are affiliated with Insight Biblical Counselling, Unborn Images Welland, Youth Unlimited, and Perch for Women. They are a branch of the Niagara Life Centre.
Niagara Life Centre is an anti-abortion, Christian Crisis Pregnancy Centre that also offers mental health counselling and other programming. The following are an extension of Niagara Life Centre: Clarity Pregnancy Options (formerly known as Elisha House), South Niagara Life Centre, and Grimsby Life Centre. While all these organizations have established their own boards of directors and registered as separate nonprofits after getting their start within the Niagara Life Centre, they all remain committed to the same goal of misinforming the public about abortion.
Niagara Life Centre is a member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities that intentionally promotes misinformation about abortion. They also run a group called Young & Pregnant in Niagara, which finds its way onto well-intended resource lists across the region, so be careful even when receiving information from sources you trust!
Locations at 143 Gilmore Road in Fort Erie and 72 Charlotte Street (Guild Hall) in Port Colborne. This centre is an extension of the Niagara Life Centre (see above).
Located at 18 Elm St. in Grimsby, this centre is an extension of the Niagara Life Centre (see above).
Warning: CMHA Niagara and the Access Line will refer clients to the Grimsby Life Centre if they are located in West Niagara and are looking for short term or long term mental health counselling. If you’re concerned about getting counselling from a Christian, anti-abortion organization, we recommend that you tell CMHA that you reside in another municipality (such as St. Catharines). They will not ask for a health card, but they will ask for an address, so if you can, borrow a friend’s address. This may allow you to access counselling through CMH’s Community Support Worker program.
Local Anti-Choice Organizations & Affiliates
Also called St. Catharines Right to Life and Choose Hope Niagara, Choose Life Niagara is a registered nonprofit. They are a branch of a national organization and they are located in St. Catharines at 1 Belton Blvd. Ste. 102 off Glenridge Avenue. They were located downtown until early 2022 when they got kicked out of their previous space and relocated to the Belton Blvd unit.
They are the ones who design and fund most of the anti-choice billboards across the region, but they are not the ones responsible for the anti-choice protests. They claim they never use violent or graphic imagery on signs or pamphlets and do not agree with those who do. They purposely spread unscientific misinformation about abortion in attempt to create an atmosphere of fear or guilt around the medical procedure. They also are connected to some of the Catholic high schools in the region and are closely tied with Niagara College.
NAA is the group in Niagara that is responsible for the graphic anti-abortion protest signs, mostly in St. Catharines on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They were started by a national organization called the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform (see National Anti-Abortion Organizations section) that runs an internship program in many cities throughout the country. NAA, in association with CCBR, is responsible for all of the graphic anti-abortion flyers that are placed anonymously in people’s mailboxes throughout Niagara.
Their “5D ultrasounds” are promoted by Clarity Pregnancy Options as a strategy for guilting clients into remaining pregnant. Unborn Images also is very keen on assigning gender as early as possible and promotes gender stereotypes.
Youth Unlimited houses Clarity Pregnancy Options in St. Catharines at 226 Merritt Street. Clarity Pregnancy Options is an anti-abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centre that spreads misinformation and tries to prevent people from getting abortions through fear and guilt. While Youth Unlimited may seem fine at first glance, their willingness to welcome Clarity Pregnancy Options into their space indicates that they agree with its harmful agenda.
Perch for Women is a Christian counselling organization for women that houses Clarity Pregnancy Options, an anti-abortion fake clinic that spreads dangerous misinformation about abortion and healthcare.
The St. Catharines Kiwanis Club has, on at least one recent occasion, donated thousands of dollars to the Niagara Life Centre, despite being aware that they are an anti-abortion, anti-queer/trans organization that is responsible for the existence of Clarity Pregnancy Options and the other local anti-abortion fake clinics.
Students for Life Niagara College
This is a student club at Niagara College that has been active in the past but hasn’t had much of a presence recently.
Brock University Badgers for Life
This club has tried to start up a few different times over the last 5 years and usually cannot maintain its members long enough to become ratified as a club. They are supported by the National Campus Life Network (see below), but lack the leadership and follow-through to become a true campus club.
Covenant Christian Reformed Church (St. Catharines)
They have hosted anti-abortion related events.
Bethany Community Church (St. Catharines)
Bethany Community Church is connected to Clarity Pregnancy Options, an anti-abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centre that spreads misinformation and tries to prevent people from getting abortions through fear and guilt.
Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria (St. Catharines)
They have hosted an anti-abortion “Respect Life Mass” with Bishop Gerard Bergie.
St. Michael’s Church (Fort Erie)
Father Patrick Gilmurray wouldn’t enter one of the Catholic schools because they had a pride flag on display in June 2022.
St. Alfred’s Roman Catholic Church (St. Catharines)
They partner with Choose Life Niagara to host anti-abortion and anti-assisted death events.
Foursquare Church (St. Catharines)
Immanuel United Reformed Church (Jordan Station)
Located at 2900 Fourth Ave
Jordan Station, this church has hosted events for the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform, a violent anti-choice organization that is responsible for the graphic anti-abortion leaflets and protests on street corners.
National Anti-Choice Organizations with a Presence in Niagara
NCLN is a national organization that attempts to organize anti-abortion clubs at universities throughout Canada. They have high turn-over among their other staff members who work in each region. Although they have the appearance of a well put-together organization — through the online events they host and the one-off campus events their organizers manage to put together — they lack organization and follow-through and haven’t been able to have much of an impact in the last few years.
National organization advocating for restrictions on abortion access through policy. They are funded by the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA). They sometimes hold flag demonstrations at Montebello Park in St. Catharines.
40 Days for Life defines itself as: “an internationally coordinated 40-day campaign that aims to end abortion locally through prayer and fasting, community outreach, and a peaceful all-day vigil in front of abortion businesses.” The 40 Days for Life campaign typically runs from late February to early April each year. While this group is not known to be as aggressive as other anti-choicers in Niagara, we encourage everyone to take caution when attending medical appointments – especially in Welland – during this time.
Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform’s main goal is for an “abortion-free Canada.” They use very graphic images on the website and in all of their materials, which have been known to end up in unmarked envelopes in mailboxes throughout Niagara. They help start local anti-abortion groups, such as Niagara Against Abortion and Hamilton Against Abortion, and they refer people to Choice42 if they are pregnant. All of these organizations intentionally promote false narratives about abortion in an effort to limit people’s bodily autonomy.
Choice42 is a terrible Christian, anti-abortion organization founded by Laura Klassen. They create content for social media to influence people not to get abortions. One of their main goals is making people cancel abortion appointments. They identify as having the largest database of ‘pregnancy support services’ to connect people with, which are harmful organizations run by anti-choice groups. The content they post is extremely harmful and intentionally misleading.
Anti-Choice Organizations in Neighbouring Areas
Crisis Pregnancy Centres
Located at 40 Wellington St. N. #102, this is a faith-based crisis pregnancy centre that attempts to appear as a medical clinic. They also offer STI testing, and have been known to shame people for engaging in sex outside of marriage and for being queer and polyamorous.
Located at 70 Argyle St N. in Caledonia and 121 Alder Street W. in Dunnville, this is an anti-abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centre that uses fear and guilt rooted in intentional misinformation about abortion to try to convince clients that they do not know what is best for their bodies.
Advocacy Orgs
Located at 209 MacNab St. N. in Hamilton, this is an anti-choice organization that is doing its best to trick people into thinking it is actually pro-choice, so they unknowingly seek help there and can be harassed.
Faith-based organization disguising itself as a “care centre” whose real goal is to convince people not to get an abortion.
Located at 370 Main St. E., Unit M1, this is another anti-abortion agency in Hamilton.
Located at 700 King St. W., they spread lots of misinformation about “symptoms after an abortion,” lying about how common these feelings are. They tell people who have had an abortion that what they’ve done is wrong and they should repent. Super gross behaviour, definitely bad people running this place.
This is an anti-abortion advocacy and religious organization with lots of anti-choice programming and events. They link to Choice42, a terrible anti-abortion organization (see above).
They have a long history of anti-feminist, “men’s rights” activism and misogynistic talking points.