Nation IN BRIEF : MICHIGAN : Assisted Suicide Ban Held Constitutional

There is no constitutional right to assisted suicide, and Michigan’s ban on the practice is constitutional, the state Supreme Court ruled. The ruling in Lansing came on four combined cases, three of them involving criminal charges against Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who has been present at 21 deaths since 1990. The fourth was a civil challenge on behalf of two cancer patients and some medical professionals. The court said assisted suicide has been a crime under common law and someone could be prosecuted for that even without the Legislature enacting its temporary ban in 1993.