Were he to run, Mr. Gilmore might find himself frequently hearing the name "Terri Schiavo," despite having no direct role in that controversy. In 1998, Mr. Gilmore intervened in a Virginia case strikingly similar to that of the Florida woman whose case became a national debate in early 2005 and eventually spurred congressional intervention.
After a car accident, Kentucky newscaster Hugh Finn emerged in a persistent vegetative state and was taken to a Manassas nursing home. As in the Schiavo case, the victim's spouse contended that Finn had preferred to die rather than persist in a vegetative state; other members of Finn's family disagreed. A legal battle ensued over the decision to remove the feeding tube. Days before Finn's tube was to be removed, Mr. Gilmore announced that the state would appeal the legal decision authorizing the removal of the feeding tube, contending that that the decision amounted to euthanasia. The Virginia Supreme Court rejected the appeal, and Finn died eight days after the feeding tube was removed.
Gilmore Ponders Joining Crowded Republican Presidential Field
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