Merrick Garland

Merrick Garland said his department will urgently explore all options to challenge the state law that effectively bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

Garland is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He is likely best known as a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court who was refused a hearing by Senate Republicans.

The federal appeals judge was spurned when Democrats supported him as a Supreme Court justice. Now the incoming Biden administration wants him to lead what it calls reform at the Justice Department.