Slovenian Parliament has passed a landmark law legalizing medically assisted suicide for terminally ill adults.
In a closely watched vote, 50 members of parliament supported the bill, while 34 voted against it and three abstained.
The decision follows a 2024 national referendum where 55% of voters backed giving people the right to end their own lives under strict conditions.
The new law allows adults who are terminally ill and suffering unbearably, with no hope of recovery, to request medical help to end their lives. To qualify, patients must be mentally competent, have exhausted all available treatment options, give informed, voluntary, and repeated consent
People suffering only from mental illness are not eligible. Each case will likely require evaluation by multiple medical professionals.
Although the law is now passed, it won’t be implemented right away. It will officially take effect two weeks after being published in the Official Gazette.
However, there will be a six-month transition period to finalize medical procedures, safeguards, and oversight systems before it’s put into practice.
While many have welcomed the move as a step toward compassion and dignity in end-of-life care, opposition remains strong.
Conservative groups and the Catholic Church argue that the focus should be on improving palliative care instead of legalizing assisted dying.
Some doctors’ groups have also raised concerns, saying they fear being pressured into ending lives. Lawmakers behind the bill have dismissed those concerns, saying medical participation will always be voluntary.
An earlier version of the bill was rejected by parliament in 2024. That version included more controversial options, like non-consensual euthanasia in rare cases, which were later removed. The current law was reintroduced in a milder form after the public referendum signaled support.
Slovenia now joins countries like Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Colombia, which have already legalized assisted dying in some form.
In the U.S., 11 states and Washington, D.C., allow medical aid in dying. Britain’s parliament also recently voted in favor of a similar bill, which still awaits further approval.
Despite the vote, a civil rights group in Slovenia has pledged to campaign for another referendum in an attempt to overturn the new law.
