FAITHFUL AND WORTHY.(Tina Spell)(Brief Article)(Obituary)

If the examination of abortion's brutality and indifference which is the unhappy subject of the second editorial on this page represents one end of the abortion continuum, I hope what is illustrated in the following loving tribute to one brave young pro-life woman embodies the other.

When I thought of the unselfish service that Tina Spell gave unstintingly to this Movement, what first came to mind was the movie Pay It Forward. I did not see the film, but a description of what that term meant in a review appearing in the New Yorker has stuck with me.

Critic David Denby put it this way: "pay it forward" meant to "perform an entirely gratuitous service for three people and then insist they do the same for three more." It represented a kind of "chain letter of benevolence."

Perfect! That captures the spirit of Tina Spell. Only her "gratuitous service" was not limited to just three people.

Like so many pro-lifers who do their saintly work out of the limelight, Tina spent almost her entire life quietly helping countless women and their unborn children. And her labors not only assisted those vulnerable people, but also established a call to the rest of us to go forth and do likewise--a "chain letter of benevolence."

Tina's death last month is a stark reminder of how large a toll the last six months have exacted from the Pro-Life Movement. We have lost several very visible pro-life champions, including Bishop James McHugh and Felicia Goeken, who headed NRLC's Volunteer Identification Program from its beginning in 1978.

But there are less high-profile pro-lifers whose contributions are every bit as important in their own way. One of those very wonderful people was Tina Spell.