Ministry binds two friends in common mission for life

Co-chairwomen show dedication to the unborn all year round as sidewalk helpers

Published: April 21, 2014

By Dwain Hebda
Associate Editor

Dwain Hebda

Sidewalk helpers Deana Luyet (second from right) and Diane Moellers (center) join hands with prayer warriors from St. Mary and St. John churches, both in Hot Springs, in front of Little Rock’s abortion clinic.

Dwain Hebda

How you can help

Little Rock’s abortion clinic is doing a bumper business these days. As the last remaining clinic in the state, it has grown from performing abortions from three days a week to five for Arkansans and people from out of state. All people of faith have a role to play in standing against this tragedy. Prayer warriors are needed all year, not just during the 40 Days for Life campaigns. Everyone is invited to come for just one hour a week, Tuesday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a special need on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. To learn more, call Marsha Boss at (501) 960-5051 or Deana Luyet at (501) 425-3552.

The forecast said rain, but so far this morning nothing drops out of the granite slab of sky except a warm spring breeze and the patter of a voice, splashing against windshields and driver’s side windows, then steadily dripping into the ears of the people inside.

“Hello ma’am! Can I give you some information today?”

The curb is lined with Catholics from Hot Springs, silent in prayer, most with rosaries dangling from their hands. Their presence is a nice departure from a typical Thursday when the only ones here are an oddly-matched pair of Catholic women from Little Rock.

“Can you talk to me for a second? I want you to know you have options. Five minutes?”

They’ve been here every week for four years, rain, shine, heat or angry glare, between 10 and 11 a.m. Their voices are the only sound, their friendly greetings the only noticeable kindness outside this squat building with security cameras mounted turret-like at the corners.

“How are you today, sweetheart? You can get a free pregnancy test and free ultrasound across the street! What have you got to lose?”

By any standard, Deana Luyet and Diane Moellers cut an unlikely duo. Luyet, a member of Christ the King Church, is a chattering magpie, blonde mane waving in time with the verbal tsunami she dishes up. Moellers, of the Cathedral of St. Andrew, is quieter, slighter and tender of a coterie of cards, pamphlets and other resources the two employ to crack the resolve of those seeking an abortion or reporting to work to perform them.

“You don’t have to make up your mind today. This will change you forever! Let’s talk about this!”

The twosome, rookie co-chairs of the Lenten 40 Days for Life, are both cradle Catholics, moms and view this hour as nothing short of moral warfare, a siege of conscience where wins are hard-won one vehicle, one ashen-faced teenager, one hollow-stare 30-something at a time.

“A friend of mine went through what you’re going through and she was never the same. She carried that scar for 20 years. But you don’t have to!”

Between sidewalk and parking lot, a broad painted stripe is the line of demarcation. The U.S. Bill of Rights begins and ends on that line; stay on this side and you say your piece, step over it and you’re breaking the law. The time it takes a 12-foot vehicle to drive over that stripe is the bulk of time Luyet and Moellers have to save a life.

“The first time we came out here, we thought, ‘How many cars are we really going to see?’ It’s a Thursday morning,’” Moellers said. “Then we got out here and they just kept coming. We cried. We were so naïve.”

“I was terrified,” said Luyet of approaching the first car on that first visit. “I felt like I was violating their privacy and their pain. I still feel it, I never get used to it. I don’t want to get used to it.”

This ministry is called “sidewalk helping,” as people are prohibited from calling themselves “counselors” without a degree to back it up. Such labels matter little to Moellers and Luyet. The best of all possible outcomes is to get a woman to cross the street to the Arkansas Pregnancy Resource Center (also known as St. Joseph Helpers) where women hear their options and receive a free ultrasound.

“A woman who sees a picture of her baby is 80 percent less likely to go through with the abortion,” Moellers said. “That’s huge.”

The 40 Days for Life spring campaign, which ran through Palm Sunday, complements the fall campaign, held in October for Respect Life Month. As co-chairs, the duo turned their skills of persuasion onto the faith community, to drum up additional sidewalk helpers and “prayer warriors” who stand and pray for as little as an hour. This year Catholics largely stood alone as most Protestant churches declined to participate.

“They told us it wasn’t an issue they were focused on right now,” Luyet said. “If you’re not focused on this, what are you focused on?”

Moellers, while acknowledging the fear many people have, said she’d like more Catholics to be open-minded about spending even a little time supporting life.

“Granted, sidewalk helper isn’t for everyone; I was absolutely sure it wasn’t for me, to be honest with you,” she said. “But what I found out was Jesus was calling me to put my fear aside. If more people came out and saw we’re not religious fanatics, we’re not yelling, we’re not political, it’s safe; if they just stood and prayed, they might discover Jesus is calling them, too.”