“The Bulgarian Woman – Biologically Female, Mother of our Children”? Societal Perspectives on Abortion Rights in Bulgaria.

“The Bulgarian Woman – Biologically Female, Mother of our Children” read a poster paraded by three instigators at a peaceful demonstration on the 25th November 2021, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Sofia. This phrase is indicative of the relatively conservative stance of the majority of Bulgarians on feminist matters such as gender-based violence, domestic violence, and LGBTI+ rights. Interestingly, in contrast to Germany for instance, abortion on request within the first 12 weeks has been legal in Bulgaria since 1990. Furthermore, Bulgaria was the EU country with the highest number of abortions in 2018. In addition, a study from 2019 with nationwide representation shows that 89.5% of Bulgarian society support the right to a planned legal abortion. Thus, this research examines how perspectives on the right to abortion on request and the hegemonic discourses of womanhood coexist in Bulgarian society. As the aim of this project is to go beyond demographic and statistical trends, the method of interviews was employed to understand the discrepancy between the hegemonic discourses of womanhood and the perspectives on abortion rights. Within this project, semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts from different fields in Bulgaria, including a person that has had an abortion. The interviews were analyzed using the method of Qualitative Content Analysis.