LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenians on Sunday rejected in a referendum a law that allowed terminally ill patients to end their lives, according to preliminary results released by the election authorities.

The near-complete count showed that around 53% voted against the law while around 46% supported it. The no-votes also represented more than 20% of 1.7 million eligible voters in Slovenia, which is requested by the election rules.

Turnout was nearly 50%, the State Electoral Commission said.

“Compassion has won,” declared Ales Primc, a conservative activist who led the campaign against assisted dying. “Slovenia has rejected the government’s health, pension and social reform based on death by poisoning."

Parliament in the small European Union nation passed the law in July after voters had backed it in a nonbinding referendum last year. Primc and other opponents, however, have forced another vote on the divisive issue after collecting more than 40,000 signatures.

The law envisaged that mentally competent people, who have no chance of recovery or are facing unbearable pain have the right to assisted dying. This meant that patients would administer the lethal medication themselves after approval from two doctors and a period of consultation.

The law did not apply to people with mental illnesses.

Backers included the liberal government of Prime Minister Robert Golob. They have argued that the law gives people a chance to die with dignity and decide themselves how and when to end their suffering.

Opponents included conservative groups, some doctors associations and the Catholic church. They insisted that the law went against Slovenia's constitution and that the state should work to provide better palliative care instead.

President Natasa Pirc Musar said upon voting on Sunday that it is “extremely important” for the citizens to go to the polls and “not only when there are parliamentary or presidential elections.”

“It is right for us as individuals to say what we think about a certain topic,” she said. “It is right for us to tell politicians what we think is right and what we think is wrong.”

Several other EU countries have already passed similar laws, including Slovenia's neighbor Austria.