HIBAPRESS
Slovenia is holding a new referendum on Sunday on activating or suspending a law that allows "assisted death," following a wave of widespread criticism that accompanied this legislation.
Several European countries, including Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, allow patients with no hope of recovery to receive medical assistance to end their lives.
Last July, the Slovenian parliament ratified a law allowing mercy killing after it was supported in a 2024 referendum.
A new referendum was held after a civil group, supported by the Catholic Church and the conservative parliamentary opposition, managed to collect 46,000 signatures to re-vote, exceeding the required minimum of 40,000 signatures.
The law will be adopted unless it is opposed by the majority of participants, provided that they constitute at least 20 percent of the 1.7 million eligible voters.
Under the law, which was supposed to come into effect this year, healthy patients or those suffering from terminal illnesses have the right to request assistance in ending their lives if their suffering is unbearable after exhausting all treatment possibilities.
The legislation allows mercy killing when treatment offers no reasonable chance of recovery or improvement in the patient's condition, but it does not include cases associated with psychological suffering only.
Prime Minister Robert Golob, who voted in advance, called on citizens to support the law, stressing that it gives every individual the right to decide the form of the end they want for their lives and with the dignity they choose.
In contrast, the group "Voice for the Children and the Family" accused the government of seeking to "poison" patients and the elderly through this legislation. The Catholic Church also considered that the adoption of mercy killing contradicts the teachings of the Gospel, natural law, and the principles of human dignity.
