Slovenia’s parliament has voted to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill adults, marking a significant change in the country’s approach to end-of-life care. The decision comes on the heels of a consultative referendum held last year. In that vote, 55 percent of Slovenians voters indicated their support for the practice. On Friday, legislators passed the amended bill with 50 yeas, 34 nays, and three disinterested members.
The new law allows terminally ill adults to request medical assistance to end their lives. This option is reserved for patients facing intolerable pain and who have failed every other course of treatment. This legislation opens the door for Slovenia to be a leader among its peers. Australia, Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands have long since taken that leap to legalize assisted dying.
The law explicitly states that those who experience intolerable mental anguish will not be eligible for assisted dying. This provision has initiated critical conversations among lawmakers, constituents, and the general public about the role of mental health in end-of-life decision making.
Tereza Novak, a Freedom Movement lawmaker who spoke in support of the bill, offered an inspiring speech about its importance.
“The right [to assisted dying] does not represent a defeat for medicine,” – Tereza Novak
Novak passionately contended that we should not deny people who find themselves in intractable situations the opportunity to choose death. He thought it was wrong for medicine to remove that option from them.
“It would be wrong for medicine to deprive people of their right to die if they want to and medicine cannot help them,” – Tereza Novak
Opposition parties in Parliament have expressed alarm about what the law means for society at large. The concerns expressed previously by the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) that this legislation could have dire consequences have unfortunately proven to be true.
“It opens the door to a culture of death, the loss of human dignity and the minimization of the value of life, in particular of the most vulnerable,” – Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS)
Slovenia is moving toward implementing this law in the next few weeks. Once it does, the country will become one of only a handful of countries in Central Europe that allow for assisted dying. The move has been praised across Slovenia and the world. International observers are waiting to see how this change in legislation will affect the larger discussion about end-of-life issues.
