Thank you, Amber! I only remembered the pregnancy part.
A D & C is not only for abortions. I had three in '79-'80 to help correct problems with my cycle.
On top of this, dilation and curettage is actually quite rarely used for abortion. I don't have any exact statistics for how common it was in the mid-1980s, but its popularity has been gradually declining for decades in favor of the less costly and safer method of vacuum aspiration. As of 2003, D&Cs were only 1.7% of all abortions. D&Cs are also not used for abortions after twelve weeks of pregnancy. Other methods would be used such as dilation and evacuation or intact dilation and extraction (IDX).