By Jeremy Ambrose

“What you asking me for? It’s yours, isn’t it? Nobody in this world has any right to stop you doing what you want to. Steady on, girl. Now, then, don’t break your bleeding heart. If you wanna do something and you think it’s right, you do it. To hell with ’em!”

This is Alfie’s philosophy and a direct response to his pregnant girlfriend who asks if she can ‘keep the baby.’ I use the word ‘girlfriend’ loosely, because for Alfie, there is no real commitment to one woman, but rather a roving freedom that chooses to do whatever he wants to, which in essence, is bedding as many beautiful women as he can. Alfie believes in choice and freedom, both good things that even Christian morality is built upon. The difference, however, is that Alfie believes that these principles have primacy over any such things as responsibility or goodness.

And so the film Alfie draws out where such a life leads to and what it means to be truly pro-choice.

Gilda, the girl in question, chooses to keep her baby and the unfortunate result for Alfie is that he begins to feel tied to her. Worse than this is his growing love and fatherly affection for his son, a love that makes him vulnerable. It is the natural consequence of such a choice and the beautiful montage of father and son interactions reveal to us that something new is taking place within Alfie, an invitation to a new lifestyle, one that is cemented upon responsibility and sacrifice. But Alfie resists and eventually walks out on Gilda and son and returns to his pursuits for physical pleasure.

Many adventures later we fast forward to the critical moment in the film when Lily comes to Alfie’s apartment for a back-street abortion. Earlier in the film, we see Alfie working his charm on her even though she is the wife of his friend Harry, currently recovering from sickness in hospital, and we see Lily give in to the seduction. Now that she is pregnant, Lily can see no way out. She knows what this effect of marital infidelity would have on her husband and to her it is an impossibility that she could ever face him with such a betrayal, so the abortion is arranged.

The abortionist too must believe in choice, hence the offering of his services, and yet, he gives a stark and clear warning to Alfie and Lily:

“To terminate a pregnancy after 28 days is a criminal offence punishable in a court of law with seven years’ jail. Do you understand this, you two? Not only that, but it’s a crime against the unborn child. It’s a course never to be embarked upon lightly. You must consider the circumstances thoroughly before you go through with your decision. Since afterwards it will be too late to change your mind. Have you given the matter your fullest consideration?”

Here is a choice presented, a choice that must be made, but it is not a choice without consequences. Those words, “it’s a crime against the unborn child” present a concrete reality that cannot be eluded or watered down, but stand as the inescapable meaning of such a choice. Abortion is a choice, one that cannot be made in a vacuum, but must be understood against truth and with an acknowledgement of what such a choice entails.

To be authentically pro-choice is the essential ingredient to Christian morality, where humanity is ultimately free to choose – while always knowing that the horror of some choices cannot be escaped. Abortion is one such choice. Lily’s choice is understandable and it would be inhuman not to sympathise with her… Yet the consequences of her choice are plainly horrific and one would also be inhuman not to recognise the truth of the act; the violence inflicted on Mother and child.

In one of the most powerful moments in cinema history, the camera moves in and lingers on Alfie’s face, as he enters the room in which the abortion has taken place. Michael Caine’s performance is both subtle and startling, as he uncontrollably explodes in emotion, giving us a visual idea of the horror he sees before him, although the camera hasn’t actually shown us anything. It seems as though the mutilation has appeared on screen before us – such is the power of the moment, but it is simply an invisible reflection of the horror, filled with an excruciating pain that bears witness to the truth of the moment. In that harrowing confrontation with the truth of his choices, Alfie presents an authentic experience of being pro-choice, in the human and Catholic way, whereby all men are understood to be free agents responsible for their own choices, with each corresponding consequence grounded in an objective truth that cannot be evaded.

The understanding of being “pro-choice” in the culture today would have you choose either option with the proviso of removing the horror of the consequences such that both choices appear to be completely equal in effect.

“I don’t mean to hurt anyone” says Alfie. “But you do Alfie” replies a friend, “you do.”

Some choices hurt and some choices even kill. To be truly pro-choice is to be aware of that in the fullest way possible so that good may always be chosen. By the end of the film, Alfie has become aware of the consequences from such a life lived. He is alone, unsatisfied, and slowly waking up to the choices that have brought him here. “What’s it all about?” he asks, and the answer may be waiting to appear in the form of a choice not yet made, a choice for love.