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A Polish teenager who became pregnant after rape should have had unhindered access to an abortion, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The girl, who was then 14, was forced to have a clandestine abortion after harassment from pro-life groups led to her being turned away from hospitals.
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The girl, named only as "P" went to two different hospitals with her mother in her hometown of Lublin in south-east Poland to try and obtain an abortion.
At one, a Roman Catholic priest attempted to convince her to have the child. Hospital management then issued a press release saying they would not perform the procedure, leading to her case becoming caught up in Poland's ongoing debate about abortion.
The girl then travelled to a hospital in Warsaw, but doctors there said they were under pressure not to go ahead with the procedure.
The court documents say the pair left the hospital "feeling manipulated and helpless", after which they were harassed by pro-life groups and eventually taken in for several hours of police questioning.
The authorities then accused the mother of trying to force her daughter into having an abortion and had "P" placed in a juvenile shelter. Link.
One of the times I agree with a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, whatever happened to this poor girl's privacy that a priest turn up at the first hospital to convince her not to abort and then to end up in custody.