On March 3, 1980, fifteen people met at the home of Al Zacharias to discuss their concerns about the increasing number of abortions being done in our country. They decided to form a Pro-Life society in Chilliwack. On June 5 the founding members adopted a constitution and bylaws and the society was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization with the Registrar of Companies in Victoria. In July 1980 the society opened its first office on Mary Street in a building donated by the Roman Catholic Church of Chilliwack. The office was staffed by volunteers and was open weekdays from ten o’clock to two o’clock. Even though Registered Charitable Organization status was not awarded until June 1981, by September 15, 1980 there were already 441 members in the society.

At this time, there was a great deal of concern among the Pro-Life members about the Chilliwack General Hospital Society (CGHS) and their stance on abortion. The CGHS board members were elected members of the society who were voted onto the board at the Annual General Meeting. Members of the Pro-Life society joined the CGHS in droves in order that their voice would be heard. Thanks to their active participation, the new CGHS board was dominated by Pro-Life people and thus we were ensured at that time that Chilliwack General Hospital continued to be a life-preserving place of healing. Eventually this fell out of our hands as board members were no longer voted to the board in this manner, but rather were government appointed.

In early 1981 the Youth for Life sector of the Chilliwack Pro-Life Society was founded and many young people became very involved. Activities included raising money through car washes and other fund-raisers. Most of these funds went to the Chilliwack General Hospital’s Children’s wing for important equipment such as mistogen nebulizers for kids with respiratory problems while the remainder went towards buying car seats for the non-profit car-seat rental which the society ran. Over the years, the involvement of Chilliwack Youth has varied from strong to non-existent.  As of October 1999, Chilliwack will have hosted the provincial BC Youth for Life Conference two times.

As a ‘not-for-profit’ organization, the society has often struggled with finding new and innovative ways to raise money for our cause. Throughout the years some of the things that have been done, include the annual garage sale, Christmas bake sales, and pledges from the annual Walk-for-Life as well as membership and generous donations from the community. Some of these events, of course, not only raised money, but they also helped to make the community more aware of our presence and spread the good news about what we were doing. Other ways to educate the public is to hold life chains, participate in Showmart, the Chilliwack Exhibition, and the various parades including Christmas and Country Living Days. The board also ran a very successful billboard campaign in 1981/1982. And has ventured out in this way again in 1999. This marks the 30 year of there being no law on abortion in Canada.

Since its very first days’ one of the main focuses of the society’s board has been to educate the community both as to what is going on in the world around us concerning abortion and euthanasia, and also to let people know what they can do to stop these atrocities. Many educational seminars have been hosted by the board for both religious and lay organizations such as Kiwanis. One of the topics covered in these presentations was abstinence in teens as the best contraceptive. The reason this was so heavily focused on was that the society also ran and still runs a crisis pregnancy counseling center where women who are experiencing a crisis pregnancy can come for physical, material and spiritual help. The crisis center is run by volunteers who have gone through counseling instruction. While the crisis pregnancy counseling services have been offered since the early days of the society, in 1997 the center also started offering post-abortion counseling services. These have been very well received in the community and already several groups have gone through the sessions.

Throughout the years the Chilliwack Pro-Life Society has worked together with its regional partners such as Abbotsford Right-to-Life as well as the provincial BC Pro-Life and the national Alliance for Life groups. Chilliwack has also been privileged to host the national and provincial conferences on several occasions.

Since its’ founding days, membership has grown to over 1000 and reaches from as far as Hope to Yarrow, including Cultus Lake and we continue to gain new members.  Membership is non-sectarian and is open to all pro-lifers: ‘Christians’ and ‘non-Christians’.

As pro-lifers, we are definitely making history.