As expected, the loss of their daughter was a hard pill to swallow, so Patrice prayed for guidance. Feeling the presence of our Lord during this tough ordeal, years later he still felt compelled to find a way to give back and honour her memory. Patrice and Helene focused their attention on the pro-life movement.

“It’s an honour to bear children, and it’s an honour we are given by God,” said Patrice.

“For us to see someone destroy a child for no reason, using it as a mode of contraception in many cases, we didn’t feel it was right. So we had to take an active involvement in the pro-life movement to teach people to do the right thing.”

Patrice’s father was with the Knights of Columbus and often advised him to join the Catholic fraternity as well. In 1991 he finally did. The Knights have always urged members to live in a way consistent with Catholic teaching. They are proudly and unambiguously pro-life. Patrice has been active in pro-life at the state level for 10 years.

“The Knights of Columbus is a family organization, so the pro-life movement is one of the most important branches of the Knights,” said Patrice. “At our international level, every couple, every pro-life group that we have, if the chairman is married, we ask the woman to be co-chair in the pro-life action.”

Opportunities arise when he can use his influence as a Knight to encourage a pro-life stance. He has remained active in the March for Life, given pro-life presentations at state conventions and writes articles for the Knights’ provincial newsletter. He has also worked in conjunction with Lakeland Pro-Life in the Cold Lake-Bonnyville region.

The Roussels agree that teaching people about abortion is all a matter of attitude. It’s a matter of demonstrating their faith, showing their love and leading by example. That same attitude has rubbed off on their three children, who recently persuaded a friend to change her mind about aborting her baby.

“My goal is to make people understand their choice, do it through love, and naturally we also offer a support system. Obviously some women have had abortions and it was not always a choice that was well prepared for and now they are suffering,” said Patrice. “Part of our pro-life action is to give them support, offer them counselling.”

Helene said she is in full support of her husband’s involvement with the pro-life movement. At times she has had to defend their beliefs. Just recently she shared her views with some pro-choice women, and Helene is confident that when they were finished talking, at least one woman had changed her mind about the ethics of abortion.

“If they open the door to this topic, I let them know that abortion is not a valid choice. God decides what we have to do. Abortion is not our future. The future is our children,” said Helene.

Their personal goal as pro-life chair couple is to teach the way Christ would.

Patrice strives to take a positive approach when discussing abortion. He tries to teach on the basis of certain mottos: The future is in our hands. Give life a chance. Defend life.

“If you talk negatively against abortion, I think you’re offering an option to a person who’s not sure what she wants to do,” he said.

“But if you only talk about life and family, and show them respect and love and show them that you care, your message is more accepted. I think we save more lives that way.”

Canada has no law whatsoever restricting abortion. More than 100,000 abortions are performed per year in Canada, a rate of about 16 per 1,000 women.

While the Roussels acknowledge that pro-life is a counterculture standpoint, over the past few years Patrice has noticed that the youth seem more respectful of life, doing the right actions and not considering abortion as much as they once did.

Euthanasia is another pro-life matter that Patrice is against. He often hears people speak of “mercy killing” or “dying for the right reason.” But he counters that there is nothing merciful about it, and birth to natural death is what God intends for everyone.

“Way before euthanasia, people should be considering palliative care. For that to happen, our government should be making sure that we have 100-per-cent palliative care before we even talk about euthanasia,” said Patrice.

Recently the Roussels lost two close friends. The couple accompanied their friends to the very end. Even in times of suffering, neither requested a premature end to their lives.

(Western Catholic Reporter)