EDITORIAL ASSISTING SUICIDE SUPREME COURT RULING SETS STAGE FOR IMPORTANT DEBATE.

THE Supreme Court's ruling on a 6-3 vote does not finally resolve the issue of doctor-assisted suicide, but it does engage it, and sets the stage for a much-needed debate.

The court's ruling was deliberately narrow, focusing on the question of whether the federal Controlled Substance Act applies. In short, the court didn't say that the federal government can't block Oregon's law, only that it can't block it in the way that former Attorney General John Ashcroft had tried.

Still, the ruling has profound implications, especially here in California.

Last year, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, co-sponsored a bill modeled on Oregon's law that would have brought assisted suicide to California. But the bill, which had a lot of support, stalled because of the lingering question of what the U.S. Supreme Court might do.

After all, what was the sense of debating - let alone passing - controversial legislation that the court might soon render irrelevant?

Now that's changed. The court's decision has re-opened the issue, and Levine's bill will come before the Legislature this year. The upcoming debate should be approached with dispassion and sobriety.

In an aging society, where the means of prolonging life have expanded dramatically, the question of end-of-life choices becomes all the more acute. Likewise, the moral and philosophical considerations have become more complicated as the technical means of extending or ending life have become more complex.

There are legitimate concerns on both sides of the debate. One side worries about the terminally ill being forced to endure a painfully prolonged, joyless existence against their will. The other fears that economic and social pressures could force some weak and needy people's decisions. These and many other critical factors must be considered in the months ahead.

Ultimately, the parameters that define this debate must be compassion and human dignity - how to relieve pain and suffering while protecting against abuse and despair. These are weighty, difficult matters, but we can ignore them no longer.