President Biden warned Republican state and local officials not to block a woman’s right to travel to get an abortion.

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Biden said as he addressed the nation after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, “The attorney general has made clear that women must remain free to travel safely to another state, to seek the care. My administration will defend that bedrock right. Any state or local official, high or low, tries to interfere with a woman exercising her basic right to travel, I will do everything in my power to fight that deeply un-American attack.”

The federal government has many tools at its disposal to both help women safely travel for medical care and crack down on states who try to stop them. Access to healthcare is a civil rights issue, and President Biden and Attorney General Garland could take a page from that historical experience to protect women and their freedom to travel for medical care.

State and local officials would be wise to take Biden seriously because if they try to stop women from traveling to get healthcare, they will pay a very heavy price.