(ZENIT News / Ljubljana, 12.04. 2025).- The referendum victory of 53% to 47% overturned the euthanasia law passed by the Slovenian Parliament on January 23, 2025. This setback protects Slovenes from being killed by poisoning under the law, which would have allowed doctors to administer lethal substances in certain circumstances.
The citizens’ movement Voice for the Children and the Family gathered 46,000 signatures to request a referendum on the controversial euthanasia law. Its leader, Aleš Primăc, celebrated the victory, stating that in Slovenia, «solidarity and justice have prevailed.» In statements reported by the Citizen Tribune and the STA news agency, Primăc highlighted the country’s «rejection of the government’s reforms based on death and poisoning.»
The referendum required a minimum of 20% of the 1.7 million registered voters to participate. 40.9% voted, thus validly rejecting the Slovenian euthanasia law. The referendum result prevents the government from introducing another euthanasia bill for 12 months from November 24, the date of the referendum.
The debates surrounding assisted suicide offered few reasonable arguments in favor of euthanasia: praising freedom, autonomy to choose how to die, and presupposing the concept of radical self-determination, which does not exist in any legal system.
The law’s passage in Slovenia sparked widespread rejection among social, medical, and religious sectors, which denounced its content and the manner in which it was promoted. Various groups, led by Voice for the Children and the Family, launched a petition to trigger a referendum.
The public response was widespread and forced the government to submit the law to a popular vote. The director of the Coalition for the Prevention of Euthanasia (EPC) stated that the result demonstrates the effectiveness of an organized and balanced campaign to stop harmful legislation, even in the face of massive funding from pro-euthanasia groups.
The Coalition for the Prevention of Euthanasia’s campaign was not an ideological confrontation, but rather a defense of the fundamental right to life and the State’s duty to protect those experiencing suffering, dependency, or vulnerability. The Slovenian people’s rejection of euthanasia demonstrated their rejection of the approach of solving social, economic, or health problems by eliminating the sick instead of addressing their real needs.
Requiring the State and professionals to become complicit in suicide through a law changes the value of life for everyone. There are arguments for and against. A state that approves death normalizes murder and creates customs.
The culture of euthanasia becomes a form of blackmail for the elderly, disabled, depressed, poor, or lonely, inviting them to believe that the State offers death so they do not become a burden on others. Offering death as a solution is an indirect pressure on individual freedom or promotes the principle that not all lives are worth living. EPC emphasized that lives would be saved and doctors would be prevented from poisoning their fellow-citizens, referring to how the law defined the assisted dying procedure.
