Farewell to our good friend, Dr. W. André Lafrance

Dr. Andre Lafrance died suddenly on Wednesday, November 23, 2005 on the streets of Ottawa just moments after completing his daily watch on Parliament Hill.  Dr. Lafrance spent time every day picketing on Parliament Hill in an effort to bring the pro-life message to Members of Parliament, Senators, their staff and visitors.  He not only designed his signs to highlight the most current topic being debated in Parliament but also prepared handouts which he could give to anyone who was seriously interested in the topic.  As a physician, he was often able to use his expertise to ensure that the medical perspective was included in the debate of the day.  He was also capable of expertly handling any questions with a concern to respond to his opponents with compassion and respect.

Dr. Lafrance worked tirelessly to promote respect for all human life and contributed greatly to the efforts of many organizations including Action Life, Life Canada, Canadian Physicians for Life and Campaign Life Coalition.  The educational groups in the pro-life movement owe him a great debt of gratitude for his untiring help researching and writing, in both English and French, numerous pamphlets, articles, booklets.  He also contributed greatly to the design and wording of educational ads for the print media.  He presented briefs to Parliamentary  and Senate committees on many pro-life issues including pre-natal development, fetal experimentation, abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide. 

We would like say thank you to Dr. André Lafrance, a man of great intellect and faith who truly lived his life well and never accepted anything but the sanctity of human life at every stage.  He will be sorely missed by all of us.

At Dr. Lafrance’s funeral, his family distributed a handout with some of his favorite sayings.  It is obvious from the Credo by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, featured on the handout, that he lived what he preached.  It reads:

“If you cannot prevail against darkness,
At least resolve to live with integrity.

Let your credo be this:
Let the lie come into the world;
Let it even triumph,
But not through me.”
(Credo to live by proposed by Solzhenitsyn)

Perhaps the symbol which best represents his dedication, untiring and heroic efforts is a caption which Dr. Lafrance even used to remind himself of the need to have courage and not give up even when the going gets tough. Here it is: DON'T EVER GIVE UP!