Menstrual Regulation
Women who missed their regular menstrual period and who strongly suspect that they are pregnant but cannot or do not want to wait for the results of a pregnancy test can ask a gynecologist for a simple procedure called variously menstrual regulation (MR), menstrual aspiration, or menstrual extraction. Since there may not be an actual pregnancy to terminate, this procedure is available even in some countries that prohibit abortions. It is mostly designed to till the gap between "foresight contraception" and "hindsight abortion." The procedure is similar to the one used for inserting intra-uterine devices (lUDs). Just as in the case of an IUD insertion, the doctor inserts a small tube through the cervix into the uterus. However, instead of depositing the IUD through the tube, he applies a vacuum at one of its ends, thus pulling out (i.e., "aspirating" or "extracting") the lining of the uterus which would normally be shed in menstruation. The procedure takes only a few minutes and can easily be performed in a doctor's office.