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Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett expressed concerns Sunday that the public may increasingly see the court as a partisan institution. Justices must be “hyper vigilant to make sure they’re not letting personal biases creep into their decisions, since judges are people, too,” Barrett said at a lecture hosted by the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center. (Blackburn, 9/13)

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on Sunday defended himself against progressives’ calls for him to step down while both a Democratic president and Democratic Senate are in power. "I didn't retire because I had decided on balance I wouldn't retire,” Breyer said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” (Hooper, 9/12)

In news about Roe v. Wade and abortion —

The Supreme Court allowing an unprecedented pre-viability abortion ban to go into effect in Texas has prompted questions on the status of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that's supposed to protect the right to abortion nationally. To some experts, this marks the end of the line for the right to abortion to be federally protected, especially with an upcoming case soon to be heard by the court that directly challenges Roe. (Svokos, 9/12)

On Sept. 3, just two days after Texas banned abortions, Vivek Bhaskaran, the chief executive of an Austin-based online survey software company, quickly assembled the handful of female employees that are based in the city. In a virtual town hall that lasted about 15 minutes, he told the women that regardless of insurance, the company would cover out-of-state abortion services. “I’m not a politician; I can’t change anything. But I’m still responsible for my employees in Texas, and I have a moral responsibility to them,” said Bhaskaran, CEO of QuestionPro. (Abril and De Vynck, 9/12)

Salesforce told thousands of employees in a Slack message on Friday that if they and their families are concerned about the ability to access reproductive care in the wake of Texas’ aggressive anti-abortion law, the company will help them relocate. Texas’ Senate Bill 8 became law in May and went into effect earlier this month. The law says doctors cannot perform or induce abortions if they have “detected a fetal heartbeat for the unborn child,” except in medical emergencies. Additionally, ordinary citizens can file lawsuits against those who aid or abet abortions after the detection of a heartbeat. (Novet, 9/10)

For companies offering abortion coverage as part of their employee health benefits, Texas’ restrictive new abortion law raises a chilling question: Could they, too, be held legally liable if their employees get an abortion? The so-called Heartbeat Act that outlaws the procedure at six weeks creates a new reality for Texans as they decipher what aiding and abetting means under the new law. Employers could be at risk of expensive lawsuits and media coverage attaching them to one of the most controversial and highly politicized health care procedures in modern history. (Wolf, 9/12)

Jonathan F. Mitchell grew increasingly dismayed as he read the Supreme Court’s decision in June 2016 striking down major portions of a Texas anti-abortion bill he had helped write. Not only had the court gutted the legislation, which Mr. Mitchell had quietly worked on a few years earlier as the Texas state government’s top appeals court lawyer, but it also had called out his attempt to structure the law in a way that would prevent judicial action to block it, essentially saying: nice try. (Schmidt, 9/12)

KHN: Journalists Explain Ramifications Of Theranos Trial And Texas’ New Abortion Law
KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal discussed health tech and the start of the fraud trial of Elizabeth Holmes, who founded the biological screening company Theranos, on WGN’s “The John Williams Show” on Wednesday. ... KHN senior correspondent Julie Appleby discussed abortion law in Texas, covid-19 and vaccination rates on NPR’s weekly news roundup “1A” on Sept. 3. (9/11)