SUMMARY: Nancy Kierzek, age 21, died in Massachusetts on September 11, 1970 after allowing her boyfriend to perform an abortion on her.

William Day, a 21-year-old microbiology student at the University of Massachusetts, was given a five-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to charges relating to the death of his girlfriend, 21-year-old Nancy Kierzek.

Day, who intended to become a doctor, perpetrated the abortion in his apartment. Nancy died of blood poisoning on September 10, 1970, a few hours after her admission to Holyoke Hospital in Boston.

Abortion had been legalized in New York, so why Nancy would submit to an illegal abortion when within driving distance of a legal abortion remains a mystery.

Sources:

• “Abortion Death Case Bail Set,” Boston Herald, Sept. 22, 1970
• “Student Admits Abortion,” Springfield (MA) Union, Jan. 30, 1971
• “Abortion Case Delayed in Mass.,” Portsmouth (NH) Herald, Oct. 27, 1970
• “Jail Term Suspended in Abortion Death Case,” Bridgeport Telegram, Feb. 2, 1971
• Massachusetts death records