Abortion legislation

Legislation timeline

  • 1956: Abortion is allowed
  • 1990: Decree No. 2 (01 February)

Source: http://www.ippfen.org/ ; www.safesex.bg

Abortion conditions

Ground Gestational limit
To save a woman’s life No limit
Because foetal impairment No limit
To preserve a woman’s mental health
To preserve a woman’s physical health
For economic and social reasons
On request 12 weeks from LMP

Source: http://www.ippfen.org/

Legal conditions

  • Pre-abortion consultation (legal counselling) + pre-abortion laboratory tests if history of at least 1 listed disease
  • Contraception to be evoked during the pre-abortion consultation.

Specific conditions for minors

  • Specific legal counselling
  • Parent’s (or guardian’s) consent required for minors under 18.

Practical conditions

Medical abortion conditions

Place Prescription 1st drug taken 2nd drug taken
OB/GYN department of a hospital/clinic
Another physician office
Midwife office
Abortion centre/clinic
At home

Source:

Medical abortion not applicable in Bulgaria.

Mandatory pre-abortion examinations

  • Blood group and rhesus factor
  • Urinalysis

Involved healthcare professionals

  • Surgical abortion: obstetrician/gynaecologist (OB/GYN)
  • Medical abortion: not applicable

Abortion statistics

Abortion rates per 1.000 women aged 15-49

Source:

Overall number of induced abortions

Source: https://www.nsi.bg/en/content/19555/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2021

Abortion ratio per 1.000 live births: ()

Source:

Abortions performed “on request”: 50% (2020)

Source: https://www.nsi.bg/en/content/19555/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2021

Overall number of induced abortions vs. medical abortions

Source: https://www.nsi.bg/en/content/19555/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2021

Induced abortions per gestational age

Unfortunately we have no data for this country.

Source:

Place of abortion

Source: https://www.nsi.bg/en/content/19297/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/health-services-2021

Characteristics of women having induced abortion

Abortion rate per 1,000 women according to age

Source: https://www.nsi.bg/en/content/19555/%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F/statistical-yearbook-2021

Fertility and contraception

Fertility rates in women aged 15-49

Source: https://infostat.nsi.bg/infostat/pages/module.jsf?x_2=3&lang=en

Women age at first birth

  • 27,5 years of age (2021)

Country-specific characteristics

  • Abortion is free of charge for women <16 or >35 years old, or registered as socially weak. Abortion is also free of charge if performed due to medical reasons or in case of rape. In the other cases, women have to pay around 154-262 € for medical abortion and around 89-206 € for surgical abortion.

Download statistics of Bulgaria

The statistics presented are freely accessible and may be used, copied, displayed or distributed provided that their source is given. You can choose whether you prefer to download the statistics of the last 10 years or the full data set. Press one of the buttons to generate a report in PDF format for this country.

Last 10 years
Full data set

Abbreviations

  • EFTA = European Free Trade Association
  • EU = European Union
  • IUD = intra-uterine device
  • LARC = long-acting reversible contraception
  • LMP = last menstruation period
  • GYN = gynaecologist
  • HCP = health care professional
  • hCG = human chorionic gonadotropin
  • HIV = human immunodeficiency virus
  • OB = obstetrician
  • Rh = Rhesus
  • US = ultrasound

References

Source: IPPF European Network – Updated January 2020 (http://www.ippfen.org/)

A special thanks to our correspondents for contributing in data collection.
Please contact info@exelgyn.com if you have additional data or would like to comment information

Page last updated: 6 June 2023