When a country of just two million people votes on a question the UK has wrestled with for decades, some too quickly shrug and move on. But Britain should pay close attention to what happened last week in Slovenia. On 23 November 2025, Slovenians went to the polls to decide whether to uphold or reject a new law permitting assisted suicide. Against the expectations of many pollsters — and those campaigning for the bill — they rejected it.
Just last summer, in a prior consultative referendum, 55 per cent of voters had indicated their support for the general idea of legalising assisted suicide. But in this week’s national vote, the position had flipped with 53.4 per cent opposing the bill.