US: Anti-abortion activist climbs 60-storey building in protest after SC resolution leak

Amid the fresh wave of pro-choice and pro-life protests in the United States following the stunning leak of the draft resolution of the Supreme Court, an anti-abortion activist on Tuesday (local time) climbed a 60-storey tower in San Francisco. The activist, who goes by the name Maison Deschamps on Instagram and calls himself “pro-life spiderman”, was later rescued and detained by the police. He had even posted on Instagram about his mid-climb on the tower. 

In the story that he posted, the activist was heard saying, “I am here at the Salesforce tower... It's going alright”. In another story, he said, “It's all going good, just wish I had a little water…I just got to troop it out, everything is going good though."

While commenting on the climb, he said, “It's not like that hard”. 

The San Francisco department responded to the incident after being alerted and deployed its personnel for Maison’s rescue. The department also said that the climber had not only put his own life at risk but also the lives of firefighters and public safety. In a tweet, the fire department wrote, “San Francisco Fire is on scene with other Public Safety Agencies at 415 Mission, Sales Force Tower for a reported climber climbing the 60 floor tower. This person is placing firefighters lives and the publics safety at risk. AVOID THE AREA and join us in condemning this action (sic)”.

At least an hour later, the fire department had issued an update saying that the issue was resolved and the concerned person was in the custody of the San Francisco police. 

Maison climbed the 60-storey Salesforce tower which is 1,070 feet tall. According to The Guardian, the building that the ‘pro-life Spiderman’ chose to climb is the second tallest building West of the Mississippi and the 17th-tallest in the United States and is also the defining feature of the San Francisco skyline. According to the posts on his social media, the activist apparently sought to demonstrate against a specific abortion provider. 

It is pertinent to note here that Maisan has previously also taken similar extreme measures to draw attention to other causes, which witness staunch right-wing support. He climbed the 600-feet ARia hotel in August to demonstrate against the COVID-19 mandates in the state. 

US SC draft resolution leak triggers protests

Maison’s Tuesday protest came just a day after a leaked draft opinion revealed that the United States Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The ruling, which was accessed by Politico in a stunning violation of the Supreme Court’s ironclad precedence of secrecy, if enacted, would end American women’s constitutional right to an abortion. It is pertinent to note that the law has existed for nearly 50 years. 

The decision to overrule the 1973 landmark case would lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states and could additionally have massive ramifications for this year’s elections. Just minutes after the document was leaked, as per reports, barricades were erected outside the Supreme Court building in Washington DC in anticipation of demonstrations. It was a matter of only a few hours after abortion rights activists and a smaller group of counter-protesters clashed outside the fences. 

Clips and images shared on social media from May 2  showed the crowd of pro-choice activists holding hurriedly put together signs. They were shouting, “Abortion is healthcare”. Soon, the crowd grew and confrontations with anti-abortion protesters also commenced. 

(Image: AP/Twitter)