Slovenians rejected a law on assisted dying for terminally ill patients in a recent referendum. Approximately 53% voted against the law, while around 46% supported it, with a turnout of nearly 41%. The law, passed by parliament in July, would have allowed mentally competent, terminally ill patients facing unbearable pain to end their lives with assistance. Opponents, including conservative groups and the Catholic church, successfully campaigned against the law, leading to its suspension. Supporters expressed disappointment but remain hopeful for future legislation, while the Prime Minister emphasized the ongoing importance of the issue.
20 days ago
Slovenian voters rejected a proposed law on assisted dying in a binding referendum held on November 23, 2025, with preliminary results showing 53% voting against it and 46% in favor.1 The turnout was approximately 41%, meeting the threshold of over 20% of eligible voters required to validate the outcome.1 Under Slovenian law, this rejection suspends the legislation for at least 12 months, preventing it from taking effect and freezing further action on the issue during that period.2 3 4
The law was initially passed by Slovenia's parliament in July 2025, following a nonbinding referendum in 2024 that indicated public support for regulated assisted dying.1 2 Opponents, including conservative groups, quickly mobilized by collecting over 40,000 signatures to force the binding referendum.1 2 This marked the second public vote on the topic within a year, highlighting the divisive nature of end-of-life choices in the small EU nation.3
The rejected bill would have permitted mentally competent terminally ill patients, facing no chance of recovery or unbearable pain, to self-administer lethal medication.1 2 Access required approval from two doctors and a mandatory consultation period to confirm the decision's voluntariness, excluding those with mental illnesses.1 3 Proponents viewed it as a means to ensure dignity and personal autonomy in dying.1
Conservative activists, led by Aleš Primc of the Voice for the Children and the Family party, campaigned against the law, calling it a "reform based on death by poisoning" and arguing it violated Slovenia's constitution, which deems human life inviolable.1 2 The Catholic Church, including the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference and Archbishop Stanislav Zore of Ljubljana, opposed it, urging investment in palliative care, medical support, and spiritual guidance instead.2 3 4 Supporters, including Prime Minister Robert Golob's liberal government, emphasized human rights, individual choice, and the right to end suffering with dignity.1 President Natasa Pirc Musar encouraged high voter participation, stressing the importance of public input on such ethical matters.1
Opponents celebrated the result as a victory for compassion and the protection of vulnerable lives, with Primc declaring that "compassion has won."1 Archbishop Zore expressed gratitude, seeing "God at work" and calling for ongoing vigilance against "easy paths" while praising those who defended life.2 3 4 Advocates for the law expressed disappointment but remained optimistic, with Golob noting that the underlying challenges of terminal illness persist and require future attention.1
The suspension halts implementation for at least a year, after which parliament could revisit a revised version of the bill.2 3 4 This outcome underscores tensions between autonomy in end-of-life decisions and protections for human dignity, potentially influencing similar debates in Slovenia.1 Medical associations and the Catholic Church advocated redirecting resources toward enhanced palliative care as an alternative.2
Slovenia's rejection occurs amid varying end-of-life laws across Europe, where countries like Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands allow physician-performed euthanasia.2 3 4 Neighbors such as Austria permit only assisted suicide, while Catholic leaders continent-wide raise concerns about risks to vulnerable groups and the need for conscientious objection in healthcare.2 The vote highlights ongoing ethical debates, with calls for stronger care-based alternatives over legalization.3 4
How does Catholic teaching shape public opinion on assisted dying?
Catholic teaching unequivocally upholds the inviolable dignity of human life from conception to natural death, viewing assisted dying—often termed euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide—as a grave moral evil that contradicts God's commandment "You shall not kill." This doctrine, rooted in Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium, profoundly shapes public opinion by providing a consistent ethical framework that emphasizes compassion through palliative care rather than ending life. By educating the faithful and engaging society through papal encyclicals, catechisms, and doctrinal declarations, the Church fosters a culture of life that influences believers' views, legislative advocacy, and broader cultural debates on end-of-life issues.
At the heart of Catholic teaching is the belief that human life is sacred and entrusted by God, rendering any intentional act to end it intrinsically immoral. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly states that "intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator." This position echoes the Fifth Commandment and is reinforced by the principle that "an evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention" (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas), underscoring that even compassionate motives, such as alleviating suffering, do not justify the means.
This teaching extends to all vulnerable persons, including those with incurable illnesses or nearing death. As articulated in Evangelium Vitae, "nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying." No authority—civil or ecclesiastical—may endorse such acts, as they violate natural law, divine revelation, and the Church's unchanging Tradition. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has reaffirmed this in recent clarifications, noting that euthanasia remains "an inadmissible act, even in extreme cases," as it constitutes "the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person." Pope Francis has further emphasized that societal erosion of life's value leads to a "throwaway culture," urging solidarity and recognition of every life's intangible worth.
The Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church mirrors this, declaring that "no one is permitted to ask for this act of killing, either for himself or herself or for another person entrusted to his or her care, nor can he or she consent to it, either explicitly or implicitly." This comprehensive prohibition shapes Catholic conscience by framing assisted dying not as mercy but as an offense against human dignity and God's providence.
Catholic teaching on assisted dying draws from a two-millennium Tradition that has consistently condemned direct killing of the innocent. From the early Church's opposition to Roman practices of infanticide and abortion—extended logically to euthanasia—the Magisterium has built a unified moral stance. Sacred Scripture provides the bedrock: passages like Genesis 9:5 ("From man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life") affirm life's sacredness, while Psalm 139:13-16 illustrates God's intimate involvement in forming life, even in vulnerability.
This Tradition influences public opinion by offering a counter-narrative to secular views that prioritize autonomy or utility. For instance, the Declaration on Abortion (1974), while focused on early life, parallels euthanasia by rejecting any "discrimination based on the various stages of life," insisting that "the right to life remains complete in an old person, even one greatly weakened; it is not lost by one who is incurably sick." Extending this logic, the Church teaches that suffering, united to Christ's Paschal Mystery, has redemptive value, encouraging preparation for death through sacraments rather than evasion (e.g., entrusting oneself to St. Joseph, patron of a happy death). Such teachings permeate Catholic education, homilies, and media, cultivating a worldview where life's end is a passage to eternal hope, not a problem to eliminate.
The Catholic Church shapes public opinion through authoritative dissemination of its teachings, reaching beyond the faithful to influence laws, ethics committees, and cultural conversations. Papal documents like Evangelium Vitae (1995) by St. John Paul II declare direct euthanasia "always gravely immoral," based on natural law, Scripture, and Magisterium, urging global solidarity against its legalization. This encyclical, alongside addresses like Pope John Paul II's to Indonesian bishops (1980), proclaims that "any wilful destruction of human life by procured abortion, for any reason whatsoever, is not in accord with God’s commandment," a stance extended to euthanasia as "entirely outside the competence of any individual or group."
In practice, the Church advocates for alternatives like hospice care and pain management, promoting a "relational approach to the patient" that never abandons the suffering. Organizations inspired by Catholic teaching, such as those aligned with the USCCB or Vatican dicasteries, lobby against assisted dying bills, citing doctrinal consistency to sway public polls and voters. For example, in regions debating legalization, Catholic voices highlight how euthanasia devalues the disabled or elderly, fostering opinion shifts toward protective legislation. The Church's global network—parishes, schools, and NGOs—amplifies this, with surveys often showing higher opposition to assisted dying among practicing Catholics compared to the general populace.
Doctrinal clarity also addresses controversies, such as distinctions between ordinary and extraordinary care. The Church permits withholding disproportionate treatments but forbids actions intending death, preventing slippery slopes in public perception. Where secular arguments invoke compassion, Catholic teaching redirects toward true mercy: accompanying the dying in faith, as Christ did.
While Catholic teaching robustly opposes assisted dying, shaping opinion among the 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, challenges arise in pluralistic societies. Divergent views may emerge from incomplete understanding of doctrine, yet the Magisterium's insistence on unchangeable truth—e.g., Paul VI's affirmation that the Church's stance "has not changed and is unchangeable" —provides stability. Recent interventions, like the CDF's 2020 letter to the Brothers of Charity, correct deviations even within Catholic institutions, reinforcing public trust in the Church's moral authority.
This influence extends culturally: Catholic hospitals prioritize palliative care, modeling ethical alternatives that sway healthcare professionals and policymakers. In media and education, teachings from the Catechism foster debates emphasizing life's communal dimension over individualism, gradually shifting public opinion toward reverence for natural death.
In summary, Catholic teaching shapes public opinion on assisted dying by uncompromisingly defending life's sanctity, promoting compassionate care, and engaging society through doctrinal witness. Rooted in divine law and Tradition, it calls all to embrace suffering as part of the human journey toward God, offering hope amid modern dilemmas.