Sitting in adoration, Melanie Lyon wondered whether she should leave her current position in the pro-life arena. She prayed candidly, “This is my purpose in life, Lord. I’ve worked so hard to build all of this. What am I going to do?” She heard the Lord tell her, “I am your purpose.” Lyon told Today’s Catholic that she left the chapel “with a big sense of peace.” The oldest of 10 children, Lyon’s family culture provided fertile ground for what she would later experience as a calling to help end abortion. Her parents routinely took the family to support pro-life causes, which normalized activism for her. Photos Provided by Paula LentVoices for Life Executive Director Melanie Lyon places pink crosses representing aborted babies in the ground in this undated photo. “It was as consistent as celebrating feast days or holidays,” Lyon said. “We’d go to Life Chain and the March for Life, and we’d volunteer at the prayer booth, and we would pray at abortion facilities. Even before I was born, my mom would take me to pray at the abortion clinic.” Lyon’s parents also catechized her well on pro-life apologetics. Being homeschooled, she didn’t experience many opportunities to use this tool until she went to college, when, as part of a liberal program at a public institution, she suddenly found herself holding the minority view. “I just kind of consistently had my values on the attack,” Lyon recalled. But she didn’t let that quell her voice. “I gave a persuasive speech against disability selection abortion in my speech class,” Lyon shared. “For me, that was kind of a big moment, because I’d grown up in very conservative circles, and most of my peers were people who agreed with me; so, kind of taking that public stance was a big deal.” Throughout college, Lyon felt a continual sense of calling to the pro-life movement. Then, as she was looking for work following graduation, she was led to Right to Life Michiana. Voices for Life Executive Director Melanie Lyon holds a sign she takes with her when she is out on the streets in front of abortion clinics to talk to women about other options and resources in this undated photo. “I remember I was just randomly scrolling Facebook, and I saw the program manager position was open, and I knew right away that that was what the Holy Spirit wanted me to do. Within 10 minutes, I’d applied. Within five minutes, they’d responded, basically offering me the position,” Lyon said, noting that the organization was familiar with her because of her family’s consistent presence at events. Lyon helped to build the biggest Sidewalk Advocates for Life chapter in the state while working for Right to Life. Only weeks after the Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade, she co-founded a new organization, Voices for Life, and found that her sidewalk experience was immediately valuable. In the wake of the ruling, many Indiana clinics performed an increasing number of abortions daily, so Voices for Life mobilized quickly to be a presence on the front lines, engaging in conversations to offer women other options. Lyon underscored the importance of this program, saying, “Literally, lives are at stake as to whether people are out there or not.” With Indiana law now preventing abortions at free-standing clinics, Voices for Life now conducts sidewalk advocacy efforts at Planned Parenthood locations. Their team reaches patients seeking abortion referrals out of state and works to direct all Planned Parenthood clients to life-affirming community resources. In addition to sidewalk counseling, Voices for Life has two other pillar programs: Door to Door Outreach and Enforcement. Their Enforcement work has included regularly reviewing Terminated Pregnancy Reports (TPRs) to report violations to the Indiana Department of Health and the Attorney General’s office. It’s sobering work. Lyon noted that many volunteers find it hard to read the reports. “It looks like just a form,” she said. “But when you look through a big stack of them, it hits you that each one represents a baby who lost his or her life to abortion in Indiana.” A volunteer once asked her if the stack of forms represented a year of TPRs, and she had to inform her that, no, the stack was from just one month at one clinic. Since the Indiana Department of Health began to deny Voices for Life access to TPRs (which are a matter of public record) this year, Voices has filed a lawsuit against them. They are being represented by the Thomas More Society. Door to Door Outreach is perhaps Voices for Life’s most unique program, and it represents their cultural mindset: A desire to create change through respectful personal engagement. “The most effective way that we found for changing hearts and minds is by this one-on-one conversation,” Lyon shared. Canvassers receive training before going out in groups to knock on doors and engage in pro-life conversations. “The training is very focused on teaching people to have peaceful and productive conversations about abortion that really prioritize building a relationship and building trust with people,” Lyon said. “For most people, they’re not going to change their minds in one conversation. That’s just not how the human mind works, unless they’re super open-minded. But what people will remember is how you treated them. If you can change somebody’s perception of pro-life people by being kind to them, their mind is going to be much more fruitful ground for the next time that they encounter some sort of pro-life argument.” Targeting one zip code at a time, often in lower income areas, canvassers have knocked on more than 8,180 doors in St. Joseph, Elkhart, and Indianapolis to date. Meeting people at their homes creates a unique opportunity, Lyon said. “They’re at their house, they hold the power; they can shut the door if they want to end the conversation,” Lyon said. “You’re coming to them, so you’re in a more vulnerable position. I think that dynamic is really powerful and leads to people being comfortable engaging on this issue.” Volunteers are demographically diverse. Canvassing teams often include both retirees and young adults. The unassuming demeanor of canvassers helps open the door to meaningful interactions. Lyon recalled a time when a Notre Dame student, Jack, met a man whose girlfriend had recently had an abortion. “She had had an abortion the week before without his knowledge, and he was really emotional about it. It was clear he didn’t know how to grieve. And he didn’t really feel like he had a right to grieve, I think, because it was her choice legally,” Lyon said. “Jack was able to pray with him and share healing resources with him.” Since they often encounter people who are post-abortive, canvassers are always ready to share information for resources such as Project Rachel and She Found Grace to help them heal. By not only providing apologetics training but also giving people the opportunity to regularly put that training into action, Lyon sees Voices for Life as uniquely empowering people to make a difference. “They are able to be the voice of the Lord to so many people who would never have heard it otherwise,” she said. “And they’re able to be His healing for this really, really deep wound that is so deeply embedded in our culture.” It’s only the beginning for Voices for Life, Lyon said. Two years after that moment in adoration, she noted, “We’ve got 150 volunteers strong now, and we hope to multiply that voice throughout the state in the next five years.” The post Voices for Life Reaches Out to Advocate for the Unborn appeared first on Today's Catholic.