By: Petra Janša
The association Srebrna nit responded to Aleš Primc’s remarks from his recent interview with Demokracija.
They were stung by Aleš Primc’s assertion that, for him, “what the association Srebrna nit is doing, as the main proponent of poisoning patients, is satanism.” In a public letter signed by the association’s president, Irena Žagar, they not only claimed that Primc was misleading the public, but also pointed out that he acted “very cunningly” in the interview: he did not say “they are,” but “to me, they are,” which means no one can accuse him of defamation, slander, or offensive accusation. “You merely expressed your opinion freely. You have the right to do so,” the association stated. Otherwise, would Srebrna nit have filed a lawsuit against Primc?
One of Slovenia’s most respected cardiologists, Prof. Dr Marko Noč, also shared his view on euthanasia in the same interview. “To me, euthanasia is murder, and assisting in voluntary death is aiding suicide. This approach to treating the seriously ill does not address the core problems of modern society, such as alienation, loneliness, and the lack of intergenerational solidarity, issues we increasingly encounter in hospitals,” Dr Noč said, among other things.
I was also alerted to a reflection by renowned professor of naturopathy Igor Ogorevc, who in his piece titled Joy of Life and the Illusion of Euthanasia wrote that life is more than the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain, and that the idea of euthanasia is a cultural illusion of modern society, an attempt to control even death, rather than accept it as a natural part of life’s flow.
And another voice stirred public debate – Janez Koprivec, a physician from the Poljane Valley. In Delo, you should read his essay titled Where Did We So Fatally Derail Our Healthcare Too, in which he brilliantly exposes the flaws of Slovenia’s healthcare system.