I was denied insurance coverage for birth control. Kavanaugh would make the problem worse. If Judge Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court, families will face situations like mine where my insurer refused to pay for contraception.

Alicia Baker | Opinion contributor

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It was one of the happiest times of my life: I was preparing to marry my best friend, Josh. But because I was denied insurance coverage for the birth control I needed, the days and months leading up to my wedding were spent struggling to make ends meet and frustrated that decisions about my health were not my own to make. And if Judge Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court, I fear many other families will face similar situations.

Josh was one of the first people I met when I moved to Indiana, and we instantly clicked because of our shared values. We’re both Christians and have similar convictions, including our decision to abstain from sex until marriage. As our wedding approached, we knew it was time to prepare for that aspect of our married life, and so we started researching birth control. While we want kids eventually, we knew we wanted to wait. Like many other young couples, we had student loans to pay off and were saving up for a home, all while trying to get by on my nonprofit salary and Josh’s freelance salary.

After researching the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit, which requires insurance companies to cover birth control without any out-of-pocket costs, I was sure that my birth control would be covered. But after getting my IUD — and the $1,200 bill — I found out that the insurance I had through my employer, a church, would not cover birth control because of a religious objection. Even though I knew using birth control was the best decision for my life at that time, and even though the church I worked for had no objections, the religious beliefs of my health insurance company overruled this critical decision my fiancé and I had made.

We could pay for the IUD, but many can't

Instead of finalizing last-minute details in the days leading up to our wedding, I was fighting with my insurance company, sending appeal letters to anyone who would take them. Because while I believed — and still believe — that no insurance company or employer should get to decide what’s best for my health, this wasn’t just about the principle. It was also about our family’s financial security. Because we were paying for our student loans and trying to save up for a down payment on a home, the unexpected bill caused us a lot of anxiety.

While we were fortunate to be able to scrounge together enough to cover the cost of the IUD, it was a financial hardship. I understood, though, that not everyone has that privilege, especially those who already face obstacles in getting the health care they need, including people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ, people with less income, and younger people.

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As someone who was denied health insurance coverage for birth control, I know this: It’s already too hard to get birth control in this country, and we don’t need to make matters worse by adding a hardliner like Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Just three years ago, Kavanaugh heard a case about the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit accommodation. The accommodation allows certain employers with religious objections to birth control to opt out of the coverage, while still ensuring their employees get no-cost birth control coverage from their insurance company. Diverging from the majority on the appeals court, Kavanaugh said filling out a form claiming the right to opt out was a "substantial burden" on an employer. In other words: Kavanaugh would have ruled that employers’ religious beliefs are more important than individuals’ decisions about their health.

Kavanaugh would make it hard for families

Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the bench would shift the balance of the Supreme Court against women’s right to birth control at a time when pivotal cases concerning it will come before the court. For example, multiple cases against the Trump-Pence administration's rules gutting the ACA birth control benefit, including one from the National Women’s Law Center, are currently being litigated and may reach the Supreme Court in the next few years.

Because I’ve experienced firsthand what it’s like to struggle to afford the birth control my family needed, I know how important it is to make sure Judge Kavanaugh isn’t given the chance to sit on the Supreme Court. As I think about the harm he could cause, the potential to deny affordable birth control to millions of people, I know I must speak out. Proverbs 31:8-9 says: “Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

And so, as a Christian, I call on our leaders to act justly and think especially of those who already face inequity in our communities. We need a Supreme Court nominee who protects the rights of all Americans, not just the wealthy and powerful. That's why I'm calling to stop the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the U. S. Supreme Court. Instead, we must appoint a justice who seeks to provide liberty and justice for all.

Alicia Baker, a seminary graduate who works at a community development organization in Indiana, was a plaintiff in a 2017 lawsuit challenging Trump administration rules that allow religious exemptions for contraceptive coverage that's required by the Affordable Care Act. Follow her on Twitter: @aliciawbaker