I am going to trial potentially in March 2024 for standing up for abortion rights in 2022. If you are agonized about the right to abortion being ripped away, you are needed to come to my defense!

Call the LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto—(213) 978-8100—and demand that all charges be dropped on Elise “Luna” Kelder, a member of the revcoms and Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights leader.

My next pre-trial court date is Thursday, February 29, 2024. My lawyer will argue a Murgia motion to dismiss the case on the basis of selective prosecution.

If you are in or near LA, SHOW UP for court support: February 29 at 8am, Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, 210 W Temple St, Dept 51. I may be going to trial on March 20, 2024.

DONATE for legal fees, and to spread the word everywhere about this case and to get the charges dropped.

*****

In 2022, when the right to abortion was about to be taken away, I took responsibility to help lead the LA chapter of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights—a national organization to fight for Nationwide Legal Abortion On Demand and Without Apology. I was arrested for being part of two actions of non-violent civil disobedience. 

The first arrest took place on June 9, 2022—weeks after the Supreme Court ruling was leaked and just two weeks before the final ruling was announced. I chained myself to the fence outside of an arena in downtown LA where Joe Biden was speaking at the Summit of the Americas. I challenged people to rise up in the streets for abortion rights because the Democrats were doing nothing to stop the overturning of Roe.

The second arrest took place on July 6, two weeks after the federal right to abortion was ripped away. Myself, along with three others, chained ourselves to the pillars of Los Angeles City Hall, amidst fake symbolic “blood.” We were all wearing “bloody” pants to represent the reality that when abortion is illegal, women die. We issued a challenge for people to rise up for abortion rights. 

I am the only one of the four women who participated in the City Hall action who is being charged at all. This quite possibly indicates that I am now being singled out for my revolutionary politics and for being a known leader in Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights. There is a dangerous history in the U.S. of the state going after revolutionary leaders and people who stand up against the injustices of this system. 

I am being charged for both of these actions in a combined case, and my trial is coming up next month. I am charged with “failure to disperse,” “trespassing,” “failure to maintain exits free of obstruction” and “special events permit violation.” If convicted on all counts I could face a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail and $2,000 in fines. 

These charges are aimed at serving a lesson that people should not engage in meaningful protest. They are aimed at keeping people cowed, silent and afraid to meaningfully take the streets for abortion rights. If I am convicted, it would create a chilling effect on all protest against injustice. 

Do not allow this prosecution to go down—be part of coming to my defense.

In these actions, we were right to risk something. We were right to put our bodies on the line. Because what is at stake are the bodies, the lives and the futures of millions of young women and girls, denied control of their own reproductive destiny and futures. 

We were right because forced motherhood IS female enslavement. 

And we were right because we were aiming to prevent what we see is happening now without the federal right to abortion. Abortion is illegal or nearly illegal in 24 states. This means women facing life-threatening conditions due to their pregnancies are prevented from getting the life-saving abortion care they need; it means women are criminalized for miscarriages; and it means that women who can't afford to travel or can't access the abortion pill have their lives foreclosed and their dreams shattered, forced by the state to carry a child against their will. The Christian fascist movement in and out of government is not stopping—they are pushing for a national ban on abortion, working to criminalize the abortion pill, and going for birth control. 

I put my body on the line in 2022 and I'm continuing to act in defense of the rights and lives of women because without the right to abortion, women cannot be free. From studying the work and leadership of the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian, I recognize that for humanity to get free, we need a revolution to overthrow this system of capitalism-imperialism which has patriarchy woven into its every fiber. And I recognize that we're in a time where the revolution we need has become more possible. So I am giving my all to this revolution because we deserve to live in a world where women are treated as fully human. (Read my statement on why I am a follower of Bob Avakian.)   

Whether or not you agree that we need a revolution, if you care about women and the state of abortion rights, demand that all the charges against me be dropped. Be there in a show of strength when this case goes to trial.

IN LA? COME TO COURT WHEN TRIAL STARTS AND SPREAD THIS STATEMENT. 

FOLLOW @therevcoms & @revclub_la (and @rise4abortionrights & @rise4abortionrightsla) ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES, COURT DATES AND TIMES.

If you are in or near LA, DONATE for legal fees, and to spread the word everywhere about this case and to get the charges dropped.