Pro-Voice Staff
Meet the people who make the movement possible.
Jen Jackson Quintano
Founder & Executive Director
Jen Jackson Quintano writes and is the co-owner of Sand Creek Tree Service in North Idaho. The local community might know her as “The Lumberjill” from her regular column in The Sandpoint Reader. She dreamed up The Pro-Voice Project immediately following the Dobbs decision, while exploring feelings of powerlessness in a post-Roe world — especially as a mother to a daughter. Jen was reminded of the power of story and the voices that carry them and immediately set to the work of finding and amplifying those voices brave enough to speak abortion’s name.
Prior to her 13 years building a business, Quintano edited and wrote for numerous periodicals and anthologies, organized for environmental causes, and published a book. She recently completed a radically honest memoir on the holy trifecta of female pain and shame — rape, abuse, abortion — and the culture that generates these all-too common feminine texts. Though she’s handy with a chainsaw, Quintano recognizes that words cut even deeper.
Pro-Voice Advisors
Amelia Huntsberger, M.D.
OBGYN
Dr. Amelia Huntsberger is a board certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist. She has been practicing medicine in rural Idaho for more than 10 years. Dr. Huntsberger is the Idaho Section Chair of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists. She is a member of the Idaho Maternal Mortality Review Committee and is on the advisory board of Idaho Perinatal Project.
Kelly O’Neil
Litigation Staff Attorney, Legal Voice
Kelly O’Neill is an experienced courtroom litigator with a passion for civil rights and equality. As a law student, Kelly interned with various organizations working with low-income and marginalized communities. Prior to joining Legal Voice, Kelly worked as a public defender in Idaho, where she handled nearly every type of criminal case, from simple infractions to first-degree murder. During her eight years as a public defender, Kelly zealously advocated for hundreds of clients with compassion and respect, to ensure they felt heard every step of the way. Kelly received her J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law and her B.S. in Political Science from the University of Utah.
Rev. Sara LaWall
Unitarian Universalist Minister
Rev. Sara LaWall serves as the Minister for the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, a spiritually diverse, justice-seeking congregation. She gathers her inspiration from many powerful women in her life, most especially her mother, who was the first woman elected as District Attorney in Pima County Arizona, where she grew up.
She is a champion for social justice issues — which is an integral part of her spiritual life — and works to weave justice and spirituality into the life of her congregation. As her sons put it “she teaches us to never be afraid to say what you truly believe.”
Nancy Keenan
Former President, NARAL Pro-Choice
Nancy Keenan served as President of NARAL Pro-Choice America from 2004 to 2012 and was instrumental in the election of President Barack Obama. After stepping down from her NARAL leadership, she served as the Executive Director of the Montana Democratic Party from 2015 to 2019. Prior to that, she was elected to several terms in the Montana House of Representatives (1983–1989) and served as Superintendent of the Montana Office of Public Instruction (1989–2001).
Cynthia Dalsing, N.P.
Certified Nurse Midwife
Cynthia Dalsing is a retired Certified Nurse Midwife. She received her Masters degree from the University of Utah. Her private practice in Sandpoint provided women's health care for 20 years. Over the 40 years of her career, she has worked in every aspect of women's health from primary care to the delivery room, providing medical exams for women after sexual assault, and healthcare for women as they age. She has worked in university settings, taught students pursuing careers in healthcare, coordinated maternal transports for high risk pregnancies, and staffed Planned Parenthood clinics in Utah. In retirement she continues to be active in legislation and leadership roles that impact women's health.
About The Pro-Voice Project
The Pro-Voice Project began as a stage production of North Idaho residents’ personal stories of reproductive agency. In January 2023, nearly 200 people showed up on a bitterly cold Saturday to listen, to learn, and to bear witness to the myriad ways in which abortion touches people’s lives. The goal was not to perpetuate antagonism but to generate greater dialog, empathy, and understanding of an experience that affects many more people — for many more reasons — than we will ever know.
The truth is, we should know. The truth is, it’s time for the topic of abortion to emerge from the shadows. It’s time for us to emerge from within the narrow confines of shame and fear. It’s time to speak up and speak out, because the rights that remain unspoken are the ones most easily dismantled.
The Pro-Voice Project started this dialog in Sandpoint. We hope for it to spread.
We’ve also begun an information campaign. The stage production was followed by a moderated panel discussion with regional healthcare providers and advocates, highlighting how we best help women in our community, both personally and politically. Panelists covered the current state of abortion laws in Idaho and how they affect the relationship between physician and patient. Also discussed was how to effect change.
Knowledge is power. The more we know, the stronger our voices become.
Join us in our two-pronged campaign of promoting empathy and education. Of generating understanding on a human level and a legal one. Join us in changing the conversation and, eventually, the laws. Join us in showing that this erosion of rights will not be met with silence.
Join us in being Pro-Voice.
For information on volunteer opportunities, sponsorship, staging the production in your community, and myriad other ways to get involved, contact us.