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Slovenia state body vetoes assisted dying law, sends it back to parliament
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on July 23, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on July 23, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Slovenia's National Council vetoed the assisted dying law, citing ethical concerns. The bill, approved by parliament, allowed terminally-ill adults to end their lives.
SARAJEVO (Reuters) -A top state body in Slovenia has vetoed new legislation to allow assisted dying, saying it raised complex philosophical, ethical and legal issues that needed to be tackled, STA news agency reported on Wednesday.
Parliament last week approved a bill giving terminally-ill adults the right to end their lives if they face unbearable suffering with no expectation of improvement, echoing decisions by an increasing number of countries including Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and some U.S. states.
The legislation follows a consultative referendum last year in which 55% of voters called for such a law.
But the National Council - a bipartisan regulatory body grouping senior officials who oversee social, economic and local policies - vetoed the bill in a 20-9 vote late on Tuesday, ordering that it be returned to parliament for review.
Opponents on the council cited concerns that the bill could undo respect for the sanctity of life by opening the door to prematurely ending a life regardless of the circumstances.
The bill specified that assisted dying could be carried out only once treatment options were exhausted, and would not be allowed in the case of unbearable suffering resulting from mental illness, STA reported earlier.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; editing by Mark Heinrich)
The National Council vetoed the assisted dying legislation in a 20-9 vote, citing complex philosophical, ethical, and legal issues.
A consultative referendum last year showed that 55% of voters supported the assisted dying law.
Opponents expressed concerns that the bill could undermine respect for the sanctity of life and allow for premature life-ending decisions.
The bill specified that assisted dying could only occur once all treatment options were exhausted and would not apply to cases of unbearable suffering due to mental illness.
The National Council vetoed the bill with a vote count of 20 in favor of the veto and 9 against it.
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