Slovenia Rejects Assisted Dying Law in Referendum Reversal
Summary:
Slovenian voters rejected legalizing assisted dying for terminally ill adults in a November 2025 referendum, with 53% opposing legislation previously approved by parliament. The reversal suspends implementation for at least one year following a campaign by conservative groups and Catholic Church leaders who argued the law violated human dignity. Prime Minister Robert Golob had supported the measure as personal autonomy, while opponent Ales Primc framed the result as “the culture of life defeating death.” The referendum saw high stakes with 40.9% turnout barely meeting the validation threshold.
What This Means for You:
- Policy Delays: Patients in Slovenia cannot access physician-assisted death until at least late 2026 even with terminal diagnoses
- Political Ripple Effects: Monitor center-left government stability as PM Golob’s signature legislation faces rejection
- Regional Advocacy Impact: Right-to-die organizations should note successful religious coalition strategies in Central Europe
- Legislative Warning: Future bills require stronger safeguards against mental health loopholes criticized by opponents
Original Post:
Slovenia’s parliament had approved a law in July, allowing assisted dying after a 2024 referendum supported it.
Published On 23 Nov 2025
Slovenians have rejected in a referendum a law that allowed terminally ill adults to end their lives, after critics mounted a campaign against the legislation.
About 53 percent of 1.7 million eligible voters voted against the law that proposed legalising assisted dying, according to preliminary results released by the election authorities on Sunday.
The results mean the law’s implementation will be suspended for at least one year. Slovenia’s parliament had approved the law in July, allowing assisted dying after a 2024 referendum supported it.
But the new vote was called after a civil group, backed by the Catholic Church and the conservative parliamentary opposition, gathered more than the 40,000 signatures required for a repeat.
Ales Primc, head of Voice for the Children and the Family, the NGO that organised the no vote campaign, reacted to the results, saying “solidarity and justice” had won.
“We are witnessing a miracle. The culture of life has defeated the cult of death,” Primc said after the vote.
Under the disputed law, terminally ill patients would have had the right to aid in dying if their suffering was unbearable and all treatment options had been exhausted.
It would also have allowed for assisted dying if treatment offers had no reasonable prospect of recovery or improvement in the patient’s condition, but not to end unbearable suffering from mental illness.
Prime Minister Robert Golob had urged citizens to back the law “so that each of us can decide for ourselves how and with what dignity we will end our lives”.
But the Catholic Church has said allowing assisted dying “contradicts the foundations of the Gospel, natural law and human dignity”.
In June 2024, 55 percent had backed the law.
Turnout at Sunday’s referendum was 40.9 percent – just enough for the no vote to meet the threshold.
Several European countries, including Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, allow terminally ill people to receive medical help to end their lives. However, it remains a crime in others, even in cases of severe suffering.
In May, France’s lower house of parliament approved a right-to-die bill in a first reading. The British parliament is debating similar legislation.
Additional Resources:
- Euronews: European Assisted Dying Laws Comparison (Contextual map of legislative frameworks)
- NEJM Ethics Review (Medical perspective on terminal suffering criteria)
- Pew Research: Religious Influence on End-of-Life Policies (Data on faith-based lobbying)
People Also Ask:
- Is assisted dying legal in Slovenia now? No – the referendum rejection maintains the previous prohibition.
- Why did Slovenia reverse course after 2024’s approval? Conservative groups leveraged Catholic networks to mobilize rural voters.
- Can patients travel abroad for assisted death? Yes, but neighboring countries require residency for eligibility.
- What conditions qualified under the rejected law? Terminal physical illness with confirmed treatment futility.
- How does Slovenia’s church influence compare to Italy? Slovenia’s Catholic community represents 72% vs Italy’s 78%, but with stronger mobilization.
Expert Analysis:
“This referendum demonstrates the fragile equilibrium between patient autonomy and religious ethics in post-communist states,” observes Dr. Luka Novak, Bioethics Chair at University of Ljubljana. “Despite European trends toward right-to-die laws, Slovenia’s outcome reveals how effectively organized faith groups can leverage procedural mechanisms like petition drives to override legislative and previous public mandates.”
Key Terminology:
- Terminal illness euthanasia legislation
- Right-to-die referendum thresholds Central Europe
- Catholic Church end-of-life policy influence
- Robert Golob assisted dying proposal
- Ales Primc conservative coalition strategy
- Physician-assisted suicide legal requirements
- Cross-border end-of-life care accessibility
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