In the last three decades, studies in the history and sociology of technology have taught us a great deal about the processes of invention, development, and diffusion. However, almost nothing is known, historically, about the technologies of pregnancy ter­mination. Despite the fact that these technologies are having an enormous social, ethical, and economic impact on today's world, no scholar has ever thoroughly explored the changing technologies of abortion (especially those used by physicians) in the United States between the years 1850 and 1980, and no effort has been made to understand how these changing technologies were connected to the politics of medical professionalization, specialization, and commer­cialization. This work seeks to fill this historical vacuum.