A majority of Slovenian voters on Sunday voted to suspend a law that legalized assisted dying for terminally ill patients.
Preliminary vote counts from Slovenia’s State Election Commission at press time reportedly indicate that the law was rejected by around 53-percent of the votes against 46-percent that voted in favor of the legislation. Voter turnout was measured at around 41-percent.
Slovenian conservative activist Ales Primc, who led the campaign efforts against the assisted dying law, celebrated the results by saying that, “Compassion has won,” stressing that “Slovenia has rejected the government’s health, pension, and social reform based on death by poisoning.”
“We are witnessing a miracle. The culture of life has defeated the cult of death,” Primc reportedly said after the vote.
Slovenia first held a referendum on assisted dying in June 2024 as part of a broader, non-binding process that included questions on its legalization, the use of cannabis for medical purposes, and a question on preferential vote in general elections. The nation’s Congress, following the results of the referendum, passed a law in July legalizing assisted dying for qualifying terminally ill adults under a series of terms established by the legislation.
Slovenia’s National Council vetoed the law on July 23, citing philosophical, ethical, and legal issues. The parliament, however, overrode the veto and re-adopted the law a day later.
Slovenia’s liberal government supported the law on grounds that it allegedly gave people a chance to “die with dignity.” Opponents of the law fiercely condemned it, with Catholic Archbishop Stanislav Zore calling for the nation to “care for the sick and dying, but not offer them suicide.”
Conservative organizations rallied around Primc’s efforts and successfully collected enough signatures to force Sunday’s binding referendum against the assisted dying law.
As per the results of Sunday’s referendum, the law is now suspended for a period of at least one year. The Slovenian parliament is barring from re-introducing a bill on assisted dying during that time period.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob reportedly said in a press release that while the current bill was rejected the “challenge we are addressing still remains.”
“This is not a political issue, it has always been a matter of dignity, human rights, and individual choice,” Golob said.
Read the full article here