On an unassuming Friday night in the intimate Hallie Flanagan Theater, “One Body: Dispatches from Idaho” fanned righteous rage and wrung tears from its audience. Smith College had the honor of hosting the one-woman performance based on the reproductive rights activism of Jen Jackson Quintano this September.
Quintano is the founder and executive director of the Pro-Voice Project, as well as an Idahoan “lumberjill.” “One Body” is an extension of the Pro-Voice Project, whose mission is to reduce abortion stigma and advocate for reproductive rights by sharing stories and providing safe places to engage with community members in Idaho.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision, which eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion, Idaho’s trigger law immediately went into effect. Today, the state has one of the most extreme bans, criminalizing all abortions with limited exceptions.
Instead of sitting idle in a situation designed to make one feel powerless, Quintano began to collect narratives, rebelling against a culture that treats abortion as an unspoken taboo. She found that most people have a personal abortion story or know someone that does. But Quintano did not initially expect a play to emerge from the work.
“What happened was some of the stories that we filmed for documentaries made it out in the world and into the hands of an off-Broadway theater owner, Eric Krebs,” Quintano said.
Once the process began, Quinato reached out to her friend Jimmy Maize, a theater writer and director based in New York.
“Jimmy and I have known each other since middle school. I knew he was in New York and was in the theater community, so I called him and asked, ‘What should we do,’ and that’s how things got going,” said Quintano.
The show debuted in New York City in 2025 and is continuously being polished, which is where Smith gets involved. After the show, students and community members had the opportunity to participate in a questions and criticisms segment with Quintano, Maize, Women and Gender Studies Professor Carrie Baker, actress Emily Donahoe and Co-Director Maridee Slater.
“We’ve had the opportunity to workshop it in Seattle and [Smith], so now it’s a slow process of refining it,” Quintano said.
An audience criticism of the show pertained to the lack of stories involving “choice-based” abortions, where the physical life of the mother is not in danger and rape or incest did not take place. The play did include a moving moment where Quintano’s voice fills the theater as she recounts her own “choice-based” story. Nevertheless, the majority of the incorporated narratives may overshadow some of the most common reasons people choose to access abortions.
The production team is aware of these issues, but there are crucial factors to consider. In Idaho, it is safer if certain sympathetic stories are at the forefront. Quintano described that, “A part of the work in Idaho is overcoming fear. People are afraid of speaking up and talking about abortion. They’re afraid of what their community will think of them.”
Furthermore, the production faced obstacles incorporating the voices of marginalized people. Too much can be at stake for these communities to speak up and as a one-woman performance it is challenging to convey the identities of certain characters. The play focuses on communicating that, above all, the current laws in place cause harm to everybody.
Conversely, praise for the play was abundant. The choice to make the production a one-woman show was brilliant. It was as if one could see hundreds of stories bleeding out of the singular actress.
Dr. Amelia Huntsberger appears as a character on multiple occasions as a representation of the deterioration of healthcare for women in Idaho: many hospitals no longer provide labor and delivery services and doctors often flee the state in fear of persecution. From living room conversations, to doctor’s offices, to courtrooms, the show portrays numerous facets of the distressing reality in Idaho.
“It just takes one person—for a while, that was me—coming forward and sharing a story. Then other people feel more comfortable speaking,” said Quintano, “Vulnerability begets vulnerability. Courage begets courage.”
In 2026, “community” has transformed into a buzzword. It is easy to feel lost when asking oneself how to actually build a community, especially since it can have different meanings depending on the setting. As a community organizer and native Idahoan, Quintano reflects on how her positions have allowed her to extend a line of dialogue.
“It’s helpful to either be a trusted member of the community or work with a trusted member who has those connections throughout and can pull in a diverse group of people,” Quintano said.
The irony of the situation in states such as Idaho is that abortion pills are becoming common procedure due to expanding telemedicine mail-order prescriptions that can cross state lines.
“Because of the Dobbs decision, nowadays more and more abortions are taking place through
medications,” said a former OB/GYN at the show who asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of their current work providing reproductive care to people in states with abortion bans.
While storytelling is effective because it is difficult to expand visions with only arguments, there will always be those that strictly believe that abortion is murder.
“I’m not interested in engaging the abortion abolitionists, that’s not a good use of time or energy… There are so many people who consider themselves prolife, but they’re willing to listen and have a conversation” said Quintano.
It is challenging to continue to find hope, especially in online spaces, but it is there. Storytelling is a way to show others how restrictions to all types of reproductive care inflict damage. Public awareness can ultimately lead lawmakers to change statute.
Quintano expressed, “I find hope in rooms with people… Storytelling causes people to open up; either open up to share their stories, or open up with a sense of empathy. All is not lost, we still have hearts that function and I’m seeing that daily.”
The production depicts the early days of the Pro-Voice Project forming, but there is still work to be done. A key takeaway is the importance of local elections, even if national structures fail.
“We have a ballot initiative that Idahoans get to vote on in November. Even beyond that, pass or fail, the work must continue,” said Quintano.
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