NEWS

Press Release submitted by Carol Stigger August 31, 2025

Feel the Vibe. John Vincent, Candidate for US Senate SC-7 Rocks Barefoot Landing

“Feel the burn,” is the faintly remembered rallying cry for Bernie Sanders, who proved to be too liberal to woo the majority. Would the country ever again experience such enthusiasm for a candidate?

These are early days, but the vibe for John Vincent at Barefoot Landing on August 30 nailed it. The vibe overflowed to the parking lot. Supporters of Vincent for the US Congress SC-7 packed Mad Gator Grill, including porches and pathways.

Vincent’s common-sense platform calms the chaos in D.C., fights for the working class, fights for veterans, and fights for our right to have a Congress that upholds the Constitution. The Vincent Vibe is surging.

My Kentucky mama taught me that tee-shirts are tacky and lawns are for plants. I bought the tee-shirt. I got the lawn sign. I got the vibe!

And so did twenty members of VOICE (www.voicenmb.org) who attended the event. Flossie Chapman, founding member of VOICE, said, “John Vincent called on us today to be American Freedom Fighters. When we elect John, he will fight for us in Washington using common sense not chaos!”

WREN Leaders Are VIP Guests at VOICE Monthly Luncheon

Women’s Rights & Empowerment Network (WREN) CEO Dr. Amalia Luxardo and WREN’s Partnership and Engagement Associate Aisha Jones addressed more than fifty VOICE members at their monthly luncheon August 18. Nonpartisan and nonprofit, WREN is the only organization in South Carolina advocating for policy changes that improve the lives of women and girls.

Headquartered in Columbia, WREN staff keep a close eye on legislation impacting women and girls. Their 2025 legislative priorities are economic justice and reproductive freedom. These issues are deeply connected and essential to ensure that South Carolina communities have the freedom to shape their own futures.

In addition to educating legislators on the impact of their actions, WREN builds strong relationships with citizens and organizations across the state. This grassroots power is mobilizing informed voters and policy makers.

Luxardo announced, “We do not play it safe; we play for impact.”

Jones said, “An important part of our work is educating policy makers on what matters to their constituents.” By connecting with women around the state, she builds grassroots power while learning firsthand what women and their families need.

Aisha Jones and Dr. Amalia Luxardo

For more information about WREN, please visit their website: scWREN.org.

VOICE is a local grassroots organization that empowers women of all ages and all walks of life through support, information, and advocacy to strengthen democracy in our communities. To learn more about VOICE, please visit their website: www.voicenmb.org.

Published August 28, 2025, in the North Myrtle Beach Times

Candidate John Vincent was a VIP Guest at VOICE monthly luncheon

John Vincent, Candidate, 7th US Congressional District, and his wife Deb were VIP guests at the VOICE monthly luncheon on July 21 held at a North Myrtle Beach restaurant.

Vincent’s message to attendees was to get involved with issues they care about. He applauds group efforts, but he also encourages every citizen to say “I can,” then make a plan. Individual efforts can have as much impact as group projects.

Vincent, a Navy veteran and small business owner, has lived all over South Carolina and has a particular concern for the 7^th US Congressional District. He said, “This District is beautiful, but it is hurting. With a median income 33 percent below the national average, more than 100,000 residents on Medicaid, and over one in four children living in poverty, we deserve leadership that sees us, hears us, and fights for us.”

Published in the North Myrtle Beach Times

Kentucky Governor Beshear and Candidate John Vincent Inspire VOICE Members

Two North Myrtle Beach VOICE representatives had the pleasure of meeting Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and John Vincent, Candidate, 7th US Congressional District at the July 17 reception and dinner sponsored by the Georgetown County Democratic Party.

Beshear and Vincent spoke eloquently and passionately about the importance of every citizen standing up and speaking out for issues that impact their lives and beliefs. The speakers focused on the democratic process and the right of every citizen to be heard, and their needs respected.

John Vincent, candidate for US Congressional 7th District

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear

Published in the North Myrtle Beach Times

VIEWS

John Lewis's letter read and printed on the day of his funeral.

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring. When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide."

The Dangerous Erosion of Women's Healthcare Rights

At 79 years old, I have lived through many changes in women’s healthcare. I have experienced both the joys and heartbreaks of pregnancy firsthand. Out of my five pregnancies, two resulted in live births, one ended in miscarriage, and two required medically necessary abortions. One was an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured, a life-threatening emergency that could have killed me. The other was a fetus that had died at 15 weeks and needed to be removed. In today’s political climate, I worry that I might not have received the lifesaving care I needed.

There is a growing and dangerous movement to strip abortion from healthcare, treating it as something separate from medical necessity. But the reality is that abortion is healthcare. It always has been. Women’s lives depend on it. The idea that politicians—many of whom have no medical training—are now making decisions that should be left to doctors and their patients is both infuriating and terrifying.

Worse still, there is a push to criminalize not just abortion but even discussing it. In South Carolina, where I live, Senate Bill 323 seeks to punish anyone who even talks to a pregnant woman about abortion. This is not just an attack on reproductive rights; it is an attack on free speech and basic medical privacy. It is absurd to think that a woman could be charged with a felony for seeking information about her own healthcare options. Additionally, South Carolina is among several states moving to classify abortion as a homicide, applying the same legal standards, defenses, and penalties as those used in cases involving the death of a person who has been born.

The personal has now become political in the most dangerous way. Women are being treated as second-class citizens, their bodily autonomy stripped away by laws that disregard the complexities of pregnancy. Miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies,

complexities of pregnancy. Miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and fetal abnormalities happen. Complications arise. And yet, lawmakers are crafting policies that ignore medical reality, placing women’s lives at risk.

I am distressed by many things in today’s world, but this erosion of privacy and healthcare rights is among the most alarming. I never imagined that in my later years, I would be fighting battles I thought had already been won. We must speak up. We must push back. Because if we don’t, the next generation of women—our daughters and granddaughters—will face a world where their health, their choices, and even their conversations are controlled by the state. And that is simply unacceptable.

Ellen Holliman

North Myrtle Beach, SC

CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY

I have three granddaughters. Their solution to today's grim pregnancy realties is this. They will seek employment in Europe and have their children there. Then, they will have their tubes tied7 Then, and only then, will they return to the United States. They are professional women: taxpayers, good citizens. If problems arise that require a procedure before they can move to Europe, I have assured them that they will always have a choice. If that means care in another country, so be it.

Fortunately, we have resources.

What about families who are barely meeting their basic needs?

Poor women's choices are so limited that many will be forced to give birth. Their maternity expenses, their children's expenses like food, housing and medical care are on us taxpayers. Cost to raise one child without special needs to age 18 is $200,000 to $310,000.

Impoverished mothers cannot afford it. You and your employed constituents will be paying for the majority of forced births until they are

18. College is not affordable, so they join the ranks of the poor. Many will be poorly parented, many abused. These broken adults are our next generation of poor people who will require government assistance. Out of desperation, some will turn to crime. You may be a victim; if not physically then financially. The pattern repeats throughout the generations.

I mention the financial hit that will burden you and your constituents because humane solutions do not move you. You stand up for the fetus then kick the child to the curb. You work like hell to reduce aid to poor families. After all, why should you pay for their mistakes?

Mistakes you legislate.

Women who have no choice have my utmost compassion. Anyone who votes for this inhumane bill has my sympathy. You are either ignorant of the realities of pregnancy and people who are poor or you cravenly hunt votes frJm people as smug in their righteousness as you are. As Shakespeare said, "the evil that men do lives after them."

Is this the legacy you have worked for all your life?

Carol Stigger