Talking Points for the Dinner Table

Current events are hot discussion topics at many holiday tables
If you want to jump start a conversation about civil liberties, please keep reading for talking points about the ACLU’s most urgent work.


Abortion Talking Points

Abortion remains legal and accessible in Illinois. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs, however, politicians across the country are seeking to criminalize access to abortion.   

  • Abortion is fundamental health care that should not be regulated or banned by politicians.
  • Forcing someone to carry a pregnancy against their will has life-altering consequences, including health risks, making it harder to escape poverty, and making it more difficult to leave an abusive partner.
  • Every ballot measure since Dobbs has shown that the majority of American voters want to protect access to abortion.

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Censorship Talking Points

Efforts to ban books in public and school libraries across the country has more than doubled in the past year. We have seen efforts in communities across Illinois to ban books or restrict students’ access to materials and information.

  • Each of us has a First Amendment right to read and learn free from censorship and discrimination.
  • The government, including public schools and libraries, cannot ban books or censor discussions about race, gender, and/or sexuality.
  • We can make choices on the information we access for ourselves. We do not have the right to make those choices for others or our communities.

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Ending Money Bond Talking Points

The Pretrial Fairness Act, which will go into effect in January 2023, ends the use of money bond in Illinois and transforms the state’s pretrial legal system. Ending money bond means that a person’s ability to pay an arbitrary amount of money will no longer determine whether they can be jailed pretrial.

  • Instead of wealth determining if you are jailed pretrial, judges will consider whether an accused person should be denied release because they pose a threat or are likely to flee.
  • The inability to pay bond forces many to spend a long time in jail before trial – risking the loss of their housing, employment, and custody of their children.
  • Evidence shows that people return to court for hearings and sentencing even when they are released pretrial.

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Yellow talking symbol with a black and white image of a person holding a sign "Abortion is healthcare | Abortion is a right". A beige talking symbol with a black and white pile of books. A light green talking symbol with a black and white gavel