"It is a shame for this wonderful state that we don't have a clear, unequivocal, unambiguous black-letter law to end this," said Sen. William Van Regenmorter (R-Hudsonville).
After a long, emotional debate, the Senate voted 28-7 in favor of Van Regenmorter's bill to put a ban on assisted suicide back into Michigan law.
"This is not death with dignity; this is murder," said Sen. Glenn Steil (R-Grand Rapids).
The vote was expected in the Republican-run Senate, which rejected a bid to put the issue on the 1998 ballot; the measure now goes to a more uncertain future in the Democrat-controlled state House.
"It will get a fair hearing," said House Speaker Curtis Hertel (D-Detroit).
But with the Legislature slated to adjourn for the year at the end of next week, any House action likely won't come until next year.
The bill would make it a felony for someone to help another person die. Conviction would be punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
It would be similar to a 1993 law against assisted suicide. That law lapsed Dec. 1, 1994.
The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that common law, which is based on court precedents rather than actual statutes, outlaws assisted suicide.
But backers of the latest bill argue a clear law is needed to criminalize the act.
The Senate bill would make it illegal to knowingly provide the means of suicide, participate in an act by which someone tries to commit suicide or help in planning a suicide.
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