Alicja Tysiac sued the Polish Government after she was denied an abortion in 2000 and forced to continue a pregnancy despite the testimony of three doctors that to do so would endanger her health and seriously damage her eyesight.
In what is being seen as a major victory for women and women's rights in Europe, the Strasbourg-based court ruled Ms Tysiac's privacy rights had been violated and her treatment had caused her "severe distress and anguish". The court awarded her costs and €25,000 (£17,000) in damages.
The ruling has far-reaching implications for the 46 nations that make up the Council of Europe, who are now legally obliged to ensure abortions are accessible where they are legal.
Under pressure from the Catholic Church, Polish abortion law has become one of the most restrictive in Europe, and now permits abortion only in cases of rape, where the foetus suffers gross abnormality, or where the woman's life is threatened.
In Ms Tysiac's case her doctors clearly interpreted Poland's abortion law to mean a woman could suffer serious physical injury provided continuing with a pregnancy did not actually kill her.
Within the European Union only Malta, where abortion is illegal in all circumstances, and Ireland have more restrictive legislation on a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy.
After giving birth Ms Tysiac experienced a retinal haemorrhage which has left her with severely limited eyesight, and there are fears that she will go completely blind. The mother of three is now unable to work, is wholly dependent on public assistance, and in need of constant care for day-to-day activities and for her children.
The Tysiac case is significant because she requested an abortion on recognised medical grounds and was denied because, according to the court, the medical profession in Poland is wary of granting or performing abortions even where they are legal.
Ms Tysiac had pressed criminal charges against the doctor who refused to refer her for an abortion, but the local prosecutor's office refused to prosecute the case.
Tysiac was supported by the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning and the US-based Center for Reproductive Rights to bring her case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Further information on abortion legislation in Europe.