Slovenia rejects assisted dying law in national referendum
Sunday’s referendum was held after critics mounted a campaign against a new law to legalise assisted dying
Slovenians on Sunday rejected in a referendum a law that allowed terminally ill patients to end their lives, according to preliminary results released by the election authorities.
The near-complete count showed that around 53 per cent voted against the law while around 46 per cent supported it. The no-votes also represented more than 20 per cent of 1.7 million eligible voters in Slovenia, which is requested by the election rules.
Turnout was nearly 41 per cent, the State Electoral Commission said.
“Compassion has won,” declared Ales Primc, a conservative activist who led the campaign against assisted dying. “Slovenia has rejected the government’s health, pension and social reform based on death by poisoning.”
Parliament in the small European Union nation passed the law in July after voters had backed it in a non-binding referendum last year. Primc and other opponents, however, have forced another vote on the divisive issue after collecting more than 40,000 signatures.
Sunday’s outcome means that the existing law is now suspended. Advocates of assisted dying said they were disappointed but expressed conviction a new legislation will be passed in the future.
Prime Minister Robert Golob said in a press release that while the current bill was rejected the “challenge we are addressing still remains”.