Feminist activist and author Shelby Knox is no stranger to campaigning.  From her high school years spent advocating for comprehensive sex ed and gay rights, to her current work as a consultant and organizer, Knox has been pushing for equal rights for years.

This week, she took the time to answer a few questions about her activities on the ground as she helps the “No On 62” campaign in Colorado, informing voters about the Proposition 62 “Personhood” ballot initiative and the effect it would have on everything from fertility treatments to abortion to most forms of birth control.

What made you decide to go to Colorado and campaign against Prop 62?

I was in Colorado for the first round of this battle in 2008, fighting the same egregious amendment that was then known as Amendment 48. Then as now, the proposed amendment would change the state Constitution to give legal rights to a fertilized egg, which would ban abortion even when a woman is raped or is the victim of incest. It would ban some forms of birth control such as the Pill and emergency contraception, inhibit access to in vitro fertilization and could halt stem cell research. The backers of this amendment are raring for a fight on Roe v. Wade and they don’t care how many Colorado women and families they hurt in the process. If they get that fight, my rights in New York and your rights in your state are threatened. I can’t wait until the fringe groups who want the keys to my womb are at my doorstep, I want to be on the front lines protecting reproductive rights. When NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado offered me the opportunity to help beat this thing again, I jumped at it. (I think this is called the organizing bug, which I’ve had for nine years and, thankfully, I don’t think there’s a cure!)

What sort of activities are you doing out in Colorado?

We’re deploying every grassroots organizing tool in the book: we’re phone banking, knocking on doors, holding rallies and hosting voter education picnics, receptions and happy hours. We’re having a Champagne Reception for young NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado members on Thursday the 30^th, a canvassing boot camp on Saturday October 2^nd on – seriously – a party bus, and a potluck on Sunday for LGBT families October 3^rd to learn about how the amendments would affect their lives. I’m speaking with students on college campuses about why it’s important for women and families to defeat not only Amendment 62 but also three other fiscal amendments (Amendments 60 and 61 and Prop 101) that would drastically cut funds for education and public services.

Tell us what a typical day on the campaign trail is like.

COFFEE. Meeting with NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado staff to discuss last minute schedule changes and any press regarding the ballot initiatives. The field team and I leave the office for our morning events, which may include a rally, a strategy meeting with student organizers, or a volunteer training. Whenever we go out, we drop yard signs and campaign lit to people and organizations that have requested it. During lunch, I try to upload photos and video from the morning events to NARAL Colorado’s Facebook and Twitter. More events in the afternoon, including a screening of my film to a student feminist group in the context of training up the many more reproductive justice organizers we’ll need to fight amendments like this one in the future. Often, we go back to the office to make recruitment calls for the events we have coming up. At night, it’s time to pass out literature at a student happy hour or put campaign flyers on cars at a Rockies game. Later at night, I’m struggling to chronicle my organizing and that of the amazing young people with whom I’m working to combat those horrible myths that young women don’t care about abortion rights and that we’re not activists. As for sleep, well…that’s what the coffee is for, right?

How are people that you meet with reacting to the ballot initiative?  Are you getting a sense of a consensus for or against?

We’re cautiously optimistic because people we’re talking to, of all ages, races, faiths, and political persuasions, seem to understand that this amendment simply goes too far. But, we know better than to underestimate the well-funded, well-organized national group that is funding the initiative. We’re working hard to make sure people know the dangerous, far-reaching consequences of this amendment and that a ‘No on 62’ vote is a vote for Colorado women and families.

How do you explain the issue to someone who hasn’t heard of it yet?  What do you say to encourage them to go out and vote?

The facts speak for themselves on Amendment 62 and most people, no matter where they stand on abortion, are unwilling to invite politicians, lawyers, and the courts into their bedrooms and their doctor’s offices. I like to lead with the fact that this amendment would change the Colorado constitution literally thousands of times – every place it says “person” – and could spur costly court cases on everything from inheritance and property laws to who has access to the courts. There are a lot of important issues on the ballot this year that will quickly and directly affect people’s lives – your vote is your voice and you’ve got to use it to stand up for yourself and your family.

What’s next on your agenda after you return from Colorado?

I’m headed to several cities in Texas to speak to young feminists about building our movement and organize around getting our generation out to the polls in November. I’ll be delivering that same message – that young women must vote in our best interests and we must do it en masse – in Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Illinois. I’m also hoping to do some door knocking for Ann Kuster, a fantastic, pro-choice woman running for Congress in New Hampshire’s 2^nd district. And, since I can’t spend the entire election season out of state, I’ll put in some time campaigning against New York’s virulently anti-choice, anti-woman gubernatorial candidate, Rick Paladino.