The first election of Donald Trump in 2016 accelerated the trend, his return in 2024 in the electoral race will further fan the flames of resentment and division in the United States. A fragile environment where difficulties in dialogue and fear of compromise, coupled with radical and narrow-minded ideological postures, now threaten one of the foundations of the country: the unity of its States.
There’s always a little straw that breaks the camel’s back. And for Jen Jackson Quintano, who runs a tree pruning business with her husband, that little drop fell 10 years ago, on a public market day in Sandpoint, in rural northern Idaho.
“I was pregnant with my daughter,” recalls the forty-year-old. When I arrived at the market, anti-abortion activists accosted me with their bloody images of fetuses. It made me gag. At the time, we saw them everywhere. At the end of schools. At the market. They were the ones who occupied the narrative terrain on abortion, with their simplistic message: “It’s murder.” In my past, I had to have an abortion, in a complicated context. And there, I was taken by their speech, without nuance and empathy, and that’s when I decided that things were going to change. »
Jen Jackson Quintano does not have the obvious profile of an activist. At first glance at least. In the rural environment where she lives, we imagine her chainsaw in hand, climbing trees to manage the development of the generous forests of this region, or at the wheel of her pickup driving towards a hunting trip between lakes and mountains, a sport that she practices, firearm in hand, in her free time.
And yet, at 44 years old, it is in this universe that this free spirit loving nature and the outdoors gave birth to the Pro-Voice Project, an organization which seeks to free women’s voices on the abortions they have suffered in order to better combat the stigma, shame and silence. A major challenge, not only in a state which, since 2022, has adopted the most restrictive laws regarding termination of pregnancy in the country, but also in a part of Idaho known for the extremism of its conservatives, its armed militias, religious white supremacists and anti-government activists with anger stoked and normalized by former President Donald Trump.
“During the pandemic, real estate agents sold the area to conservatives across the country as a refuge from liberal and health policies elsewhere,” says Jen Jackson Quintano sitting in her organization’s office on Main Street in Sandpoint. This increased their presence in the region. »
She adds: “All the elements came together to make my approach a dangerous activity, both for me and for my family. But so far, the few altercations I’ve had have been mild. » She mentions emails calling her a “child killer”, comments on social networks denouncing her liberal ideas on the issue and calling on God to put her back on the right path.
“A few days ago, we had an activity in a theater in McCall (small village further south). A full house two evenings in a row,” she continues. The Pro-Voice Project brought in actresses reading the testimonies of women who have experienced abortion in the great game of life and human relationships. There were also experts in law, medicine and a member of the clergy responsible for shedding light on the multiple and complex facets of this surgical intervention to better ward off hasty moral judgments and blind condemnations on the matter. “Yes, demonstrators were in front of the door to protest, pray, sing, but without trying to interrupt the event or prevent people from entering. And it’s a respect that always surprises me a little. »
Door open to the worst
Abortion has been advancing in a minefield in Idaho since its first laws criminalizing this medical act, which date from the 1950s, a framework dusted off in August 2022, two months after the invalidation by the Supreme Court of the United States of the stop Roe v. Wade. In essence, the decision of the highest court in the country placed the legal framework for this health care in the hands of the States. The Potato State has taken the narrower route by criminalizing abortion upon fertilization, with rare, severely demarcated exceptions in cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life is in danger.
Obstetricians’ decisions are, however, open to challenge by state authorities, the family of a person who has an abortion, and even that of a rapist who causes the pregnancy, but not by the rapist himself. . This framework places physicians under constant threat of prosecution, imprisonment, and license revocation, with consequences that have been felt quickly.
Three obstetrics departments have closed their doors in the state over the past year, due to a lack of sufficient doctors to staff them. Idaho has lost a total of 25 gynecologists in just one year, all of whom left to practice in neighboring states that are more permissive in terms of abortion. Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado…
Ironically, the first service to fall was Bonner General Health in Sandpoint in the spring of 2023 after its four women’s health specialists left, forcing 50,000 patients to now drive more than an hour to Coeur d’Alene to receive obstetric and gynecological care or to give birth.
Even as Idaho’s maternal and infant mortality rates climbed 122% and 18%, respectively, between 2019 and 2021, according to the latest data from Idaho Kids Covered, the state’s Republican elected officials aren’t giving up. Last year, they even sought to remove rape and incest as exceptions to abortion access, following closely the abolitionist principles of the Danbury Institute, a coalition of Christian groups that prides itself on “life and liberty” and dreams of eradicating abortion entirely from the American medical and social landscape.
In Idaho, the measure was partly championed by Sen. Scott Herndon, who said rape could also be seen as “an opportunity to have a child in these terrible circumstances, if the rape actually happened.” reported at the timeIdaho Capitol Sun. Mr. Herndon represents the state’s District 1, which encompasses Sandpoint and its greater region.
Forced radicalization
“The impressive turnout at the Pro-Voice Project events shows that most Idaho voters are not on the same page as elected officials on this issue,” said Wendy Heipt, a human rights lawyer with from the organization Legal Voice, which also helps women in Idaho.
Earlier this year, a longitudinal survey conducted by the Idaho Policy Institute and the University of Boise showed that 58 percent of state residents supported changing abortion laws to make it easier. access. Worse, 43% believe that the State is now on the wrong track. The new restrictive legal framework surrounding abortions is one of the sources of pessimism mentioned by respondents.
“The current bans in Idaho go too far, beyond what people want,” notes Mack Smith of the Planned Parenthood Advocates Alliance, a federal agency active in several states where abortion has been banned. under tension by extremist policies, as in Idaho. Patients are being placed between life and death by these political decisions, and despite calls for elected officials to reckon with the harm they have caused, the current legislature continues to ignore their demands. »
“Idaho voters will certainly mobilize (during next November’s elections) to show this extremist Idaho Republican faction that it no longer has the support of the majority of the population,” adds Wendy Heipt.
This road is undoubtedly beginning to be paved in northern Idaho, where, on May 21, Senator Scott Herndon, an abolitionist who believes that abortion is a homicide that should be punishable by death, was defeated. during the Republican Party primary for the November elections. His replacement chosen by the Republicans, Jim Woodward, was senator from the same district before him. He also voted for anti-abortion laws in place in the state, but now admits to having underestimated their negative consequences on people’s lives.
Chance or coincidence: the man has, in recent months, accepted several invitations from the Pro-Voice Project and also participated in speaking evenings on abortion organized by Jen Jackson Quintano.
“This is the objective of our project: to plow the soil to make it more fertile for messages calling for abortion to be considered health care and a human right,” she says. We also want to show that it is okay to speak positively about it and even to put up a sign on your property calling for respect for this right. » To date, the Pro-Voice Project has distributed more than 400 across the state. On it, we can read: “Abortion is health care. »
“On the surface, the issue appears to be divisive, particularly in an area like northern Idaho. But it’s crazy to see how, ultimately, it’s a subject that can also be unifying. A few weeks ago, in Boise, in a packed 450-seat room, I asked who had had an abortion or knew someone in their family or circle who had had an abortion. Almost all hands went up,” she concludes.
This report was financed with the support of the Transat-Le Devoir International Journalism Fund.
