PHP_INI option doesn't accomodate spaces in the path

When putting PHP_INI in ~/.bashrc, for example, the path it refers to cannot contain spaces. Here are some examples:

Here's what we're starting with, and our preference would be to use /Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/conf/php.ini as the php.ini file since this is the one generated by MAMP PRO, and would help MAMP PRO users to solve this related issue: Error in the PHP config setting of magic_quotes_gpc prevents diagnosis of the problem through drush core-status

Mac:~ > drush status
The following restricted PHP modes have non-empty values:            [error]
magic_quotes_gpc. This configuration is incompatible with drush. 
Please check your configuration settings in
/Applications/MAMP/bin/php/php5.3.20/conf/php.ini or in your
drush.ini file; see examples/example.drush.ini for details.
 PHP configuration     :  /Applications/MAMP/bin/php/php5.3.20/conf/php.ini 
 Drush version         :  5.9                                               

add export PHP_INI="/Library/Application\ Support/appsolute/MAMP\ PRO/conf/php.ini" to ~/.bashrc

Mac:~ > source .bashrc
Mac:~ > echo $PHP_INI
/Library/Application\ Support/appsolute/MAMP\ PRO/conf/php.ini
Mac:~ > drush status
Could not open input file: Support/appsolute/MAMP\
Mac:~ > 

try export PHP_INI='/Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/conf/php.ini' instead (alternate way to deal with spaces in path)

Mac:~ > source .bashrc
Mac:~ > echo $PHP_INI
/Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/conf/php.ini
Mac:~ > drush status
Could not open input file: Support/appsolute/MAMP
Mac:~ > 

(MAMP doesn't end with a '/' this time).

try export PHP_INI="'/Library/Application\ Support/appsolute/MAMP\ PRO/conf/php.ini'"

Mac:~ > source .bashrc
Mac:~ > echo $PHP_INI
'/Library/Application\ Support/appsolute/MAMP\ PRO/conf/php.ini'
Mac:~ > drush status
Could not open input file: Support/appsolute/MAMP\
Mac:~ > 

try export PHP_INI="'/Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/conf/php.ini'"

Mac:~ > source .bashrc
Mac:~ > echo $PHP_INI
'/Library/Application Support/appsolute/MAMP PRO/conf/php.ini'
Mac:~ > drush status
Could not open input file: Support/appsolute/MAMP
Mac:~ > 

Those are all the variations I can think of, so I believe this means spaces aren't accepted by Drush in the PHP_INI variable.