Slovenians will vote in a referendum in November on whether they support the right to assisted suicide, which was legalised by parliament in July.
Several European countries, including Switzerland and Austria, already allow physicians to help terminally ill people kill themselves, and Slovenia was to join them following parliament’s approval in July.
But parliament on Friday set a vote to be held on November 23 after a civil group, supported by the conservative opposition, gathered the 40,000 signatures needed to call a referendum.
At the referendum, voters will decide whether the law will be implemented.
The legislation gives lucid, terminally ill patients the right to physician-assisted suicide if their suffering is unbearable and all treatment options have been exhausted.
It also allows for assisted suicide if treatment offers no reasonable prospect of recovery or improvement of the patient’s condition, but not to end unbearable suffering resulting from mental illness.
At a first referendum, held in 2024, 55% of Slovenians backed the practice.
But the EU country’s legislation enables civil groups that gather at least 40,000 citizens’ signatures to call a re-vote on laws passed by parliament.
For the referendum to be successful, a majority of voters, representing at least 20% of eligible citizens, have to vote against the law.
