Never Rarely Sometimes Always

And A Reader Plea... What's The Thumbs Up For, Riley M. Moore?

It’s important to know that the story of “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” is a story that, in essence, is an everyday issue. It is a part of our American discourse, it is as common as people registering to get their driver’s license, as common as people attending a job interview, as common as two people getting married. It is not a niche topic, it is not a movie about an esoteric and academic circumstance. It is a particularly American issue, but it is also a universal issue, an issue that affects us all. Yes, like the cold you just had, like the broken foot you endured, like the conditions requiring your morning pills, it is a healthcare issue. This is a movie about abortion.

Seventeen year old Autumn (Sidney Flanagan) is a pregnant girl in Pennsylvania. She confirms her fears by going to a CPC. This is the opening of the movie, more or less, but I’m going to stop because this is a movie you review with a sense of advocacy. If you can separate the material from the real world politics, then that’s a real empty-headed review. The movie doesn’t linger on the CPC very long, because this is a movie with a ten-toes focus on the reality of this situation, but it’s important for every American to know about Crisis Pregnancy Centers.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers outnumber abortion clinics by a more than 4-1 ratio, and they’re typically located in places without abortion centers or Planned Parenthood locations, and typically in poor or rural areas. I admit that I had never heard of CPC’s until maybe 2019 or so, but they are typically funded by the government, but they offer medical services without being accredited medical centers – typically the staff are underqualified. This is because CPC’s exist for one purpose – to encourage the birth of a child. Over the years, many have reported the lies told at these centers about the risks of abortion – a popular one is that, once a woman has an abortion, she can never conceive a child again. CPC practitioners have no obligation to provide factual medical information and are not bound by HIPAA regulations. I have heard stories of CPC workers lying to women about the health of the fetus inside of them, as well as misrepresentations of how far along the pregnancy may be.

CPC’s are largely faith-based, and they are meant to encourage childbirth and discourage abortion. They are not meant to actually provide healthcare towards either of these decisions. I don’t think I need to offer much color commentary about this, but imagine being in a position to offer information to a young woman about her pregnancy and you lie about the life inside her? If you had to define evil, wouldn’t that fit the bill? CPC’s are odious, but conservative politicians typically back them because the organizations employ effective scare tactics to keep young would-be mothers obedient and compliant. Hopefully, people are starting to realize these places do more harm than good.

In the movie, after the CPC confirms her pregnancy, Autumn sits down and watches an anti-abortion video. Unmoved, she opts for an abortion, but in Pennsylvania (for now) you can only legally obtain an abortion as a minor with consent from parents or a judge. Like many before her and likely many others, she realizes her best opportunity to safely regain her bodily autonomy is to venture up to New York City. Her classmate Skylar (Talia Ryder) decides, in the spirit of sisterhood and adventure, she’ll steal some cash and these two unsupervised minors will engage on a dangerous trip to a place they’ve never known.

I remember being young in New York City. I grew up in the suburbs, but made plenty of trips to Manhattan. I’m old enough to remember being very small during the David Dinkins era, which was still largely dangerous and unsafe. I was older during the Giuliani era, when he “cleaned up” the city by selling property to big businesses. Times Square in particular went from a place of shady corners and pushers to, basically, the inside of a billboard. He shuffled all the scary stuff to eighth and ninth avenue, and for that, you’d have to enter some spooky buildings of your own volition. Nevertheless, the city was overwhelming for a young person, particularly the complex transportation, the trains, the buses.

Autumn and Skylar are basically falling without a parachute when they end up in Penn Station. The location is recognized here as scary as it can be for a first-timer. It’s the middle of Manhattan, a hub for hundreds of buses, and several subway trains below. There are people coming and going, and people who have stayed too long. There are people off the streets, hungry, scared, houseless and defenseless. Autumn can see that she’s not the only one with a serious problem, but it doesn’t soothe her, instead compounding the stress she’s under.

Upon a visit to a Planned Parenthood clinic, the news is not encouraging. The procedure, it turns out, must be conducted at yet another location, and it will be more expensive than the girls believed. This means the two of them must endure a night in the city, a night where they have to stay awake, stay safe, and somehow find the additional funds to get back home. New York City never sleeps, it’s true, but that’s probably a source of excitement for someone like me, a guy, and a threat to two young girls, like these characters.

“Never Rarely Sometimes Always” lacks that suspense-thriller momentum because it’s a film of tragedy and loss in a situation that’s totally avoidable. All politicians have to do, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, is to see women as human beings. That’s it. That will go a long way to making sure we don’t have to make excellent but upsetting films like this. Yes, I can’t separate the movie from the issue because the movie IS the issue (and boo hoo if you have a problem with that). I’m a hardliner – I think a baby is a baby as soon as it’s out of the womb. When the fetus is inside the womb, it’s as much of a life as the hairs I shaved off my face this morning. Every sperm is not sacred – sometimes it’s just sperm. We need to stop handicapping the lives and health of women to benefit the collection of cells inside her that might form a life somewhere down the line. The health of someone here in front of you should not take a backseat to the hypothetical life of a child one day. Yes, I’m a disgusting heathen, burn the heretic. But see this movie. If you’re Anti-Choice after this movie, well, the fault is not on director Eliza Hittman, but in fact your own faulty moral compass.

Since we’re on the subject of healthcare, I should tell you about the curious case of healthcare in federal prisons. I would encourage you, if you ever end up in a federal prison, seek out any and all medical care you require. You won’t get the best care, but you will get care, and at a steep discount. In my circumstances, each doctor or dentist visit required only a $2 co-pay. $2 for dental work! Where will you find that outside of a historically-dubious CD-ROM game from the nineties? You can get check-ups, you can get surgery, everything is only $2. If it’s an immediate problem, you can go at 6 AM to the medical center and receive treatment. If not, you make a reservation, and the day before, they’ll tell you to go at a certain time.

Of course, as I’ve shared in the manner of which roughly 85% of my prison got COVID, you’re not looking at the best treatment. The dentist in my last spot in particular was fairly rough around the gums. He was nicknamed “The Butcher” – I don’t know any truths, but what does it take for a medical professional to end up practicing his wares in a federal prison located in the middle of nowhere? If major surgery of any type is required, the prison will isolate you from general population, and you will be driven off the premises to an actual hospital. At which point, things are probably a little dire for you, but if you’re in prison, any type of field trip is welcomed.

Quick note, fellas…

This week, Congressman Riley M. Moore (R. West Virginia) visited El Salvador and stopped by CECOT, otherwise known as the Terrorist Confinement Center that currently houses Kilmar Abrego Garcia. You may remember Garcia as being one of hundreds of innocent Americans who was sent to this prison despite a clean criminal record, and despite having no charges fled against him. In court, the administration claimed it was an accident, but Donald Trump will never admit to an accident. His own vanity will spell, at best, a lifetime of confinement for Garcia. At best.

It would be a good opportunity for a politician to visit this place to show Americans where they could go if Donald Trump’s ICE foot soldiers are reckless. Where I could go, given that immigrants have been kidnapped near where I work, given that I’m Puerto Rican, and given that I’m an ex-con who won’t be missed. A good time to remind the American people that you stand for due process, and you don’t think any Americans should be detained in a foreign prison despite not having been charged for a crime.

Congressman Riley M. Moore is the opposite. In one of his photos seen here and on Moore’s personal Twitter account, Congressman Moore is flashing a thumbs up while posing, from a very safe distance, from men who are imprisoned in what has been called a “torture” prison. What I wonder is, for what reason is he giving a thumbs up? Is it because he sanctions Donald Trump’s plans to illegally arrest American citizens and never let them out of custody again? Is it a thumbs up to say that due process is a failure? Is it a thumbs up in support of concentration camps and fascism? I’m curious, really, what is the thumbs up for?

So, guys, I thought we could do this together. We should ask — why are you giving a thumbs up, Congressman Moore?

Congressman Moore, I’ve been to prison. It’s a place of suffering. It’s a place where hope goes to die, where men are brutalized and demeaned. You’re giving a thumbs up in front of some cells as if you can claim any responsibility for putting them there. You can’t. You just look stupid, Riley. You might as well give a thumbs up in front of a Burger King. We know you didn’t grill that Whopper, idiot.

But you gave the thumbs up this week. You didn’t do it to show how El Salvador imprisons men. You did it because you’re actively celebrating the arrest and detainment of innocent Americans, a situation that will worsen. You are there to be a disposable mascot for fascism. There isn’t any gray area here. You want innocent Americans to receive a life, and maybe a death, sentence for no reason. This is in clear violation of both the Constitution as well as common decency.

This is treasonous behavior, guys. There’s nothing ambiguous about this. Nonetheless, I think we should all ask Riley M. Moore, why are you giving a thumbs up at CECOT?

You're either for, or against, torture. You're either for, or against, due process. You either want to help Americans or hurt them. So what are the thumbs up for?

You can ask him like I will — via email. Through that link, you can reach out and send an email to Mr. Moore. The link asks for a zip code. You can use 26031. In your email, ask him, why are you giving a thumbs up?

I encourage you to do so. I think we should all do it. I will be sending him this entry when it goes live. But these men need to know that we can see them, and we know what they mean, and we understand they aren’t subtle.

Remind people like Riley M. Moore that what they do is pathetic and evil in support of this agenda. Send him the link to this piece if you want. I will. Let them know that they’re pitiful foot soldiers. Make them feel bad about it. These are bullies, and bullies have no power if you shame them.

But don't forget to ask him about the thumbs.

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