'Pro-Life Spiderman' climbs skyscrapers, risks everything to 'save these babies'
WASHINGTON — Attending the annual March for Life on the National Mall last week, the "Pro-Life Spiderman" shared why he is willing to "risk everything to save these babies" by climbing tall buildings to raise awareness and money on behalf of the right-to-life movement.
Maison Des Champs, who calls himself the "Pro-Life Spiderman," greeted those exiting the Smithsonian Metro station with pro-life signs Friday as pro-lifers from across the U.S. gathered on the National Mall for the annual anti-abortion demonstration.
He spoke with The Christian Post about his advocacy on behalf of the pro-life movement and shared his thoughts on the state of the movement following the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade last June.
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Originally from Michigan, Des Champs now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 23-year-old has gained national attention by climbing skyscrapers to raise awareness for the pro-life cause.
"I've been climbing the buildings since May," he said.
Whenever Des Champs climbs a tall building, he fundraises for a handful of pro-life advocacy organizations seeking to help pregnant mothers in need of financial support.
The signs he handed out on the National Mall featured pictures of the babies he claims he was able to save. He elaborated on his strategy to raise funds for the pro-life movement, which he described as "really simple."
"I climb the building, then I go on the news, and then I say … 'donate to Letthemlive.org,' and I bring the awareness, and then people donate," he stated. "It's been very successful, and I'm really happy to have been a part of it."
The activist attributes his passion for the pro-life movement to the outrage he felt after pro-life activists affiliated with the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising discovered remains belonging to full-term babies discarded as medical waste from an abortion clinic operated by Dr. Cesare Santangelo in Washington, D.C.
The pro-life activists launched the #JusticefortheFive campaign, offering a $25,000 reward for anyone with information leading to Santangelo's arrest.
As detailed on Des Champs' GoFundMe page seeking to raise $1,000,000 for pro-life charities, "Pro-life activists, with help from a whistleblower, obtained the bodies of 5 murdered babies that had come out of Dr. Santangelo's clinic. These babies were murdered during late-term abortions, and it is believed that some even survived their abortions and were left to die."
"I saw what was happening here in D.C. with Dr. Cesare Santangelo and the Justice for the Five incident, and my heart just felt convicted. I felt like I had to get involved. So as a climber, I thought of like, 'how can I change the culture?'"
"As a climber, I just fell into climbing skyscrapers, and there was a guy named Alain Robert and I just sort of stole his idea," he added.
Noting that Robert "invented skyscraper climbing," Des Champs identified Robert as a "good friend" who scales tall buildings to raise climate change awareness.
"I never climbed buildings before watching Alain do it," he told CP.
Des Champs developed experience climbing after moving to Yosemite, which he described as "the Mecca of rock climbing."
"I just sort of learned how to do it on a rock, and then it transferred over to buildings," he recalled.
Des Champs has climbed the Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles, the Devon Tower in Oklahoma City, the Renaissance Center in Detroit, the New York Times building in New York City and the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco.
Seven months after the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, Des Champs lamented what he views as "some superficialness" within the pro-life movement.
He urged young people to "work harder" on behalf of the right-to-life cause.
"I would like to see people go out and do more," he said. "I look at the 90s, and I see Operation Rescue, and I just look at the sacrifice that those people were willing to make, and I question whether or not our generation is willing to make that sacrifice. But I hope that I can inspire people to make that sacrifice and save these babies."
Founded in the 1980s, the pro-life group Operation Rescue gained national notoriety for staging sit-ins at abortion clinics, effectively blocking women seeking abortions from entering the facilities.
As Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry explained in a previous interview with The Christian Post, the passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in 1994 "broke the back" of the movement by threatening abortion clinic blockaders with federal charges. The group has not engaged in such protests in nearly three decades.
Des Champs called on people to "risk everything to save these babies."
"I think if we show sacrifice and if we can show that, 'hey, we are willing to give up things to help these babies,' then the world can change, and we can change hearts and minds," the "Pro-Life Spiderman" believes.
He shared his faith's important role in his pro-life activism, stressing, "you can't climb skyscrapers if you ain't got faith."
"I represent Letthemlive.org, and I try to raise money for them and help save babies and help these women who are in a financial crisis pregnancy," he explained.
According to Let Them Live's website, the organization is "dedicated to financially and emotionally supporting [underprivileged] moms so they can confidently choose life for their babies."
Fundraisers on the website ask visitors to donate to help women who feel they have to abort their unborn children due to financial insecurity.
Des Champs previously operated a website detailing his aspiration to raise $1 million for pro-life charities. He supports other charities through a GoFundMe page: California Right to Life League, Save the Storks, Save Unborn Life and Nevada Right to Life.
While he acknowledges there are dangers involved, he says "most skyscrapers are easier to climb than rock" because "the large rails and positive [window] sills are ginormous in comparison to the credit card-sized holds found on rock."
Des Champs said, "in most states and cities, there are no laws against climbing skyscrapers."
While Des Champs is often "charged with some form of trespassing or disorderly conduct" and has been arrested on occasion, he said those charges are either "dropped or easily fought in court."
The activist said he had no plans to climb buildings in D.C. because of legal concerns surrounding federal prosecutors seeking to "put [him] away" if he did.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
