Menstrual extraction abortion (ME) is a type of manual vacuum aspiration technique to pass the entire menses at once for early pregnancy terminations. A thin flexible plastic, syringe and a one-way bypass valve are used to prevent air from being pumped into the uterus. The uterus tissue is then sucked using a syringe into a collection jar
The device used in a menstrual extraction abortion is called a "Del Em", it can be used by two people. One person could concentrate on guiding the sterile cannula through the vaginal cavity into the cervical os while another could pump the syringe to develop the vacuum. The Del Em made the procedure more comfortable, with personal control of the suction
Menstrual extraction abortion (ME) was developed by feminist activists, Lorraine Rothman and Carol Downer in 1971. ME was developed and used before the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalized abortion in 1973. ME made its debut at the National Organization for Women conference in Santa Monica, California in August 1971.
Although menstrual extraction is technically similar to manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) and menstrual regulation (MR), it is a unique form because it is not medicalized. It originated in the feminist self-help movement and it is performed by small groups of women where the person getting a ME has complete control over the procedure.