Mrs. Mildred Maley, of Ashland, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, died at the Pottsville Hospital on August 17, 1971, following an illegal abortion performed on her by Wayne M. Mace of Williamstown, Dauphin County. Mace was arrested and later tried in October 1973, but one of the charges against him had to be dropped because of the unconstitutionality of the law on which it was based – as determined by the U. S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which had been announced on January 22, 1973. Nevertheless, Mace was tried on the other charges, including involuntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to a term of one and one-half to three years in the state penitentiary.
At the time he was charged with the Maley death, Mace was free on bail on at least one other abortion charge. There was no indication anywhere in the reporting that he had any medical training.
About five years prior to Mrs. Maley’s death, Mace was arrested on a morals charge for selling an obscene article which was supposedly used in corrupting the morals of children. [Source: Pottsville Republican, April 18, 1966]. The disposition of that case could not be determined from the available newspapers on-line.
The text of the newspaper article describing the result of the October 1973 trial is presented first, followed by a history of the case from news articles available on Newspapers.com.
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From the Pottsville Republican, October 18, 1973:
JAIL TERM GIVEN IN ABORTION CASE
HARRISBURG — Judge Richard Wickersham sentenced a Williamstown man to a one and one-half to three-year state penitentiary term Wednesday on an involuntary manslaughter charge which involved an illegal abortion.
Wayne M. Mace, convicted by a jury last week after a four-day trial, was also fined by Judge Wickersham, who passed sentence immediately after hearing and denying post-trial appeal motions. Mace will begin serving the sentence in the State Correctional Institution at Rockview.
Mace was charged with performing a medical and surgical operation resulting in the death of a pregnant woman August, 1971.
A charge of abortion causing death was dismissed on a pre-trial motion of the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office, mandated by a recent United States Supreme Court finding that the statute outlining the abortion charge was unconstitutional.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 10, 1970:
AREA MAN HELD FOR ABORTION
Wayne M. Mace, 27, who lives along Route 209 in the Williamstown area, was arrested and accused of performing an abortion according to Harrisburg State Police.
Arrested at his home Thursday on a warrant issued by Lower Swatara Township Justice of the Peace Mary E. Cross, Mace posted $5,000 bail at his arraignment for a hearing at a later date, police said. The arrested resulted from a joint investigation by officers of Troop H headquarters in Harrisburg in Harrisburg and the Lykens substation.
Police also reported the confiscation of surgical instruments and other paraphernalia allegedly used in abortions.
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From the Shenandoah Evening Herald, August 18, 1971:
MILDRED MALEY
Mrs. Mildred J. Maley, 114 South Fourth Street, Frackville, died at Ashland Hospital this morning. She was a patient there since Sunday.
Born in Frackville, she was employed as a clerk at the Anthony’ Supermarket.
Survivors include her husband, Joseph I. Maley and parents Williams Roberts and Pearl [Israel] Roberts of Frackville, and children b, Robert J. Maley, John Maley and Margaret Ann Maley, at home. Also two sisters and two brothers: Margaret Roberts, Frackville; Mrs. David (Dorothy) Straw, Rutherford, Pennsylvania; John Roberts, San Diego, California; and James Roberts, Frackville.
She was a member of St. Joseph’s Church, the Catholic Daughters, Ladies Auxiliaries of the Frackville Elks Lodge 1533 and VFW Post 5707 and an associate member of the Camden Traffic Club, Camden, New Jersey….
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From the Pottsville Republican, August 27, 1971:
ABORTION SAID CAUSE IN FRACKVILLE DEATH
HARRISBURG — District Attorney LeRoy S. Zimmerman announced the arrest of a Williams Township, Dauphin County man, on a charge of “abortion causing death.”
Zimmerman said the suspect, Wayne M. Mace, was arrested at his home Thursday afternoon, shortly after he was arraigned at the Dauphin County Courthouse on two unrelated charges.
Mace was arrested in connection with the death of 41-year-old Mrs. Mildred J. Maley of Frackville. Mrs. Maley, the mother of four children, died in Ashland Hospital August 18. Hospital records indicated she was admitted to the hospital two days earlier. The district attorney alleged that the abortion was performed by the suspect in his apartment August 15 [1971].
Mace was arraigned before District Magistrate F. Francis Reichenbach of Elizabethville. He was taken to Dauphin County Prison [in] lieu of $50,000 bail and a preliminary hearing was set for Thursday. Mace was already free under $8,000 bail on two other counts, abortion and hindering a witness.
Trial had been delayed on those charges while defense attorney Bruce Cooper filed pre-trial procedural appeals before the state appellate courts. However, Thursday morning Mace entered innocent pleas to both charges and requested a jury trial. It has been scheduled for October 4.
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From the Shenandoah Evening Herald, August 28, 1971:
FATAL ABORTION BAIL $50,000
Dauphin County authorities have arrested a Williamsown man in the death of a Frackville woman allegedly resulting from an abortion.
Mrs. Mildred Maley, 41, mother of four, died August 18 [1971] in Ashland Hospital, where she had been admitted two days earlier.
Committed to Dauphin County Prison, Harrisburg, until he posts $50,000 bail is Wayne Mace, who already had been free under $8,000 on counts of abortion and hindering a witness.
Dauphin District Attorney LeRoy Zimmerman charges that Mace performed the abortion on Mrs. Maley at his apartment on August 15.
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From the Pottsville Republican, September 10, 1971:
RUSSELL LAUDS DETECTIVE FOR ABORTION CASE WORK
District Attorney Richard B. Russell credited one of his detectives and a state trooper with “brilliant investigative work” which led to the arrest of a man on an abortion charge.
Russell said he was notified on August 15, by hospital authorities a patient, Mrs. Mildred Maley, 40, of Frackville, who was admitted to the Ashland Hospital in serious condition. The woman died August 17.
County Detective Wally Berger was assigned by Russell to the case and, with State Trooper Nicholas Arch, conducted an investigation. Their information led to the arrest of Wayne Mace, of Dauphin County.
He has been charged by Dauphin County officials with abortion causing death. The alleged abortion is reported to have been performed in Dauphin County.
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Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.