Enter the crisis of our characters, a revelation of the elephant in the room. The American and the girl are traveling in order to receive an abortion.

Absinthe itself was an extremely popular, alcoholic drink. Historically, one of the core ingredients used in the disillation of the beverage was Wormwood. Curiously enough:

"In European folk medicine, wormwood is one of the most important gynecological agents for abortion and to induce menstruation and labor."

This parallel of an alcoholic drink to abortions is a subtle yet abrupt way of introducing the issue of abortion to the story.

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