Poland’s 2020 abortion legislation violated the rights of a woman who was forced to travel abroad to access an abortion, the European court of human rights ruled on Thursday. The court found that while the legislation, which prevented the applicant from accessing an abortion after her foetus was diagnosed with trisomy 21 (Down’s syndrome), did not legally amount to “inhuman or degrading treatment”, it did violate her right to privacy and family life, protected under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Poland was ordered to pay the applicant €16,004 (£13,800) in damages. “We fought for this decision for every woman living in Poland,” Federa, a Polish woman’s rights organisation that had lawyers representing the applicant, said in a statement. “This verdict is a milestone and another argument that Polish law, which causes so much suffering for women in Poland, must change.” The woman, known as ML in court papers, became pregnant in 2020. During the 14th week of pregnancy, the foetus was diagnosed with Down’s, and the woman was scheduled for an abortion in a Warsaw hospital on 28 January 2021.