SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court Wednesday declared the Bush administration has no right to interfere with Oregon’s assisted suicide law, the only one in the country to allow doctors to help patients end their lives.

In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals said Attorney General John Ashcroft cannot sanction or hold doctors criminally liable for prescribing overdoses under Oregon’s voter-approved Death With Dignity Act.

“The attorney general’s unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide,” Circuit Judge Richard Tallman said. He said Ashcroft’s threat to take action “far exceeds the scope of his authority under federal law.”