H is harshest critics won't see it this way, but former Gov. Booth Gardner did a favor last week for every citizen of Washington state.

Gardner began a difficult but important public dialogue about the rights of terminally ill people. He did it by going to Olympia with a coalition of supporters and filing a Death With Dignity initiative that closely mirrors the one-of-a-kind law passed by Oregonians in 1994.

Regardless if Gardner's measure passes or even makes the Washington ballot, he has helped spark a beneficial debate. Oregonians have been engaged for years in the same emotional conversation, and it has produced much positive change.

Today, as a result of white-hot focus on end-of-life care, Oregon leads the nation in providing access to palliative medicine and pain treatment.

Among the 50 states, Oregon can also boast the lowest rate of hospital deaths and the highest rate of deaths in home or hospice settings. This reflects what 90 percent of Americans say they would want if they become terminally ill, according to The Gallup polling organization.

Years of fierce debate over Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law helped elevate end-of-life care in this state. Relentless legal battles and public discussion helped physicians recognize the importance of humane pain management. It spurred them to refer more and more patients to hospice, and it led them to get much better at diagnosing depression among the terminally ill.

Now Washingtonians can expect a similar enlightenment, thanks to their 71-year-old former governor. Gardner, who calls the initiative "my final campaign," has Parkinson's disease but won't be among those who could use the new law; his illness isn't considered terminal at this stage.

But he's going to need every ounce of strength he can muster on behalf of his campaign, because critics will rip into it with a vengeance. Gardner, however, is well aware of this lesson learned by his state's southern neighbor: The dire consequences predicted for Oregon's Death With Dignity Act did not pan out.

Opponents, including us, warned that the law could steamroller vulnerable patients into suicide, target the disabled and become a destination for terminally ill people seeking to die with doctor-prescribed drugs. In a decade of experience with the law, though, no such abuses have shown up.

A good share of the credit goes to a hefty set of safeguards built into the Oregon act. Wisely, in drafting the Washington proposal, Gardner's coalition borrowed almost all of them and added some of their own.

As a result, the initiative has won a warm endorsement from Washington state's largest newspaper, The Seattle Times, which predicted that Gardner's law "will not affect many people."

That's true for those seeking aid in dying. In terms of improved end-of-life care, however, the debate over Gardner's law is likely to affect everyone in Washington.