Slovenia referendum rejects assisted dying law for terminally ill adults

Slovenia’s parliament had approved a instrumentality successful July, allowing assisted dying aft a 2024 referendum supported it.

Slovenians person rejected successful a referendum a instrumentality that allowed terminally sick adults to extremity their lives, aft critics mounted a run against the legislation.

About 53 percent of 1.7 cardinal eligible voters voted against the instrumentality that projected legalising assisted dying, according to preliminary results released by the predetermination authorities connected Sunday.

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The results mean the law’s implementation volition beryllium suspended for astatine slightest 1 year. Slovenia’s parliament had approved the instrumentality successful July, allowing assisted dying aft a 2024 referendum supported it.

But the caller vote was called aft a civilian group, backed by the Catholic Church and the blimpish parliamentary opposition, gathered much than the 40,000 signatures required for a repeat.

Ales Primc, caput of Voice for the Children and the Family, the NGO that organised the nary ballot campaign, reacted to the results, saying “solidarity and justice” had won.

“We are witnessing a miracle. The civilization of beingness has defeated the cult of death,” Primc said aft the vote.

Under the disputed law, terminally sick patients would person had the close to assistance successful dying if their suffering was unbearable and each attraction options had been exhausted.

It would besides person allowed for assisted dying if attraction offers had nary tenable imaginable of betterment oregon betterment successful the patient’s condition, but not to extremity unbearable suffering from intelligence illness.

Prime Minister Robert Golob had urged citizens to backmost the instrumentality “so that each of america tin determine for ourselves however and with what dignity we volition extremity our lives”.

But the Catholic Church has said allowing assisted dying “contradicts the foundations of the Gospel, earthy instrumentality and quality dignity”.

In June 2024, 55 percent had backed the law.

Turnout astatine Sunday’s referendum was 40.9 percent – conscionable capable for the nary ballot to conscionable the threshold.

Several European countries, including Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, let terminally sick radical to person aesculapian assistance to extremity their lives. However, it remains a transgression successful others, adjacent successful cases of terrible suffering.

In May, France’s little location of parliament approved a right-to-die bill successful a archetypal reading. The British parliament is debating akin legislation.