The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the rights of a 20-year-old woman were violated when her parents forced her to have an abortion in 2010.

In the case S.F.K. v Russia, the court found that the forced abortion was “an egregious form of inhuman and degrading treatment which had not only resulted in a serious immediate damage to her health – that is the loss of her unborn child – but had also entailed long-lasting negative physical and psychological effects.”

The abortion was carried out in a public hospital despite the woman continuing to make clear to her parents and medical personnel that she wished to keep her baby. At the time, the police did not prosecute the parents because they determined that they were acting in their daughter’s best interest.

Commenting on the case, a spokesperson for the Pro-Life Campaign said the case “highlights the rarely talked about fact — that studies show that a significant number of all abortions performed are carried out against the wishes of the woman”.