Bad news in Slovenia and Uruguay.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I have bad news. Slovenia has legalized assisted suicide and Uruguay's lower house passed a euthanasia bill.

Slovenia

Roselyne Min reported for Euronews on August 13 that Slovenia became the first Eastern European country to legalize assisted suicide. Min wrote:

In Slovenia, eligible patients will have access to assisted suicide, where they would have to ingest or inject a substance themselves, local media reported.

Patients will be required to express their intention to their doctor twice before submitting a formal request, which must be approved by an independent doctor. Their ability to make a decision will also be assessed by a psychiatrist.

Min reported that a group called Coalition Against the Poisoning of Patients has already collected 15,000 signatures and needs to collect 40,000 signatures in a little more than a month to launch a binding referendum on whether to repeal the law.

In June 2024, I reported that the Slovenian people passed a non-binding referendum (55% to 45%) based on the concept of assisted suicide. The next referendum will be based on the language of the legislation.

Min reported that Dr Bojana Beovic, president of the Medical Chamber of Slovenia stated:

“Their life is coming to an end, they are elderly, they do not feel they are useful in society, and the best thing is that they leave this world and their family members,” she said.

It sounds like Beovic believes that certain people are better off dead.

Uruguay

The Uruguay media reported on August 13 that Uruguay's Lower House passed the euthanasia bill with 64 of the 93 members present supporting the bill.

The euthanasia bill requires two doctors to approve the euthanasia death, but when one of the doctors disagrees, the decision would be reviewed by a medical board.

The Uruguay Upper House has not voted on the bill yet.

All of these countries should look to the Canadian experience before considering the legalization of euthanasia or assisted suicide. Once legal, the law will inevitably expand, as has happened in Canada and in almost every state in the US that has legalized assisted suicide.

• More articles about Slovenia assisted suicide debate (Link).
• More articles about Uruguay's euthanasia debate (Link).