Slovenian voters will be asked whether they support the right to assisted dying under a referendum motion initiated by the government that comes amidst heated debates on an assisted dying bill that doctors and conservative parties staunchly oppose in the face of surveys showing a majority of voters are in favour.

The referendum motion was tabled on 7 March, just as the National Assembly was conducting the first reading of the bill. MPs ended up voting 64:9 against the bill, which was filed by Silver Thread, an association campaigning for a dignified old age.

The legislation was put to MPs in July last year after the association collected the required 5,000-plus signatures to formally initiate legislative proceedings.

It would make assisted dying an option for terminally ill patients, setting strict eligibility criteria under which the decision to end life voluntarily would be made after consideration of all other possible options and after discussion with several doctors, including a psychiatrist, members of a dedicated committee and other experts.

Assisted dying would not be available for people with acute mental disorders.

Staunch opposition from the medical profession

The parliamentary vote, and the referendum motion, were the culmination of months of torrid debates about whether it is right to help patients take their own lives.

The main thrust of the opposition has come from the medical profession, which rallied around doctors' commitment to save lives, not help end them. Doctors also resented not being consulted beforehand and raised a number of ethical concerns that have cropped up in countries that allow assisted dying and euthanasia.

"We are against active killing of patients; in exchange we offer good palliative care," Radko Komadina, head of the Slovenian Medical Association, said at a recent event invoking the World Medical Association's view is that "it does not befit doctors to take part in killing or to kill".

Palliative care is available in Slovenia, but it is widely seen as inadequate and it is not equally accessible around the country.

Conservative opposition parties oppose any intervention in ending life on ideological grounds. Alenka Jeraj, a senior MP of the Democrats, told parliament it promoted "the culture of death instead of life".

"One should not die at the hands of a fellow human being, but by their side," added Iva Dimic, a deputy of the Christian democratic New Slovenia.

Timid support from the government

Coalition parties support the right to assisted dying in principle arguing that people should have the power to decide about their own life or death, but it appears they were reluctant to throw their weight behind such a divisive issue.

Only the Social Democrats and the Left sided with the NGOs and spoke in defence of the bill, whereas the Freedom Movement remained coy.

While the party supports the bill, MP Tereza Novak said that "all the required opinions" must be obtained and "in-depth discussion conducted" before the final decision is made, which "should be in the hands of the citizens".

Public opinion slightly in favour

Only a handful of surveys have probed public opinion about assisted dying and it appears a majority is in favour.

In a recent Slovenian Public Opinion poll of over 1,000 respondents, 63.5% said euthanasia is acceptable and only 17.4% found it unacceptable.

And a survey by two Ljubljana Medical School students among 330 patients found that just under half supported the assisted dying bill, a quarter oppose it, and a quarter think a person has the right to end their life, but it is a right that must be restricted.

It is unclear as yet when the referendum may be held.