Designs of devices: The vacuum aspirator and American abortion technology Emin Tunc, Tanfer Aborto por succión Aspirador de vacío Tecnologías abortivas Interrupción del embarazo Re-configuración de tecnologías Vacuum suction abortion Vacuum aspirator Abortion technologies Pregnancy termination Technological reconfiguration In 1965, 71% of legal abortions in the United States were performed using the surgical procedure of dilation and curettage. By 1972, a mere seven years later, approximately the same percentage (72.6%) of legal abortions in the United States were performed using a completely new abortion technology: the electrical vacuum aspirator. This article examines why, in less than a decade, electric vacuum suction became American physicians’ abortion technology of choice. It focuses on factors such as political and professional feasibility (the technology was able to complement the decriminalization of abortion in the US, and the interests, abilities, commitments, and personal beliefs of physicians); clinical compatibility (it met physician/patient criteria such as safety, simplicity and effectiveness); and economic viability (it was able to adapt to market factors such as production, cost, supply/demand, availability, and distribution). 2022-10-27T06:51:10Z 2022-10-27T06:51:10Z 2008 journal article Emin Tunc, Tanfer. «Designs of devices : the vacuum aspirator and American abortion technology». Dynamis: Acta Hispanica ad Medicinae Scientiarumque Historiam Illustrandam, 2008, Vol. 28, p. 353-376, https://raco.cat/index.php/Dynamis/article/view/118819. 0211-9536 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/77585 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ open access Atribución 4.0 Internacional Universidad de Granada