Nashville representative a true champion of reproductive rights

Tennessee Rep. Aftyn Behn has been at the center of a debate and lawsuit that pits First Amendment rights against antiabortion restrictions

Tennessee Rep. Aftyn Behn has been at the forefront of Tennessee’s abortion rights movement for years now. 

The 34-year-old Democratic state representative represents Nashville. Republicans in the state have vilified her for seeking to help young women get reproductive care. Behn has also been crucial in the grassroots outreach and planning needed to grow the Democratic Party in rural communities. 

Recently, she joined a lawsuit seeking to defend her First Amendment rights to advise young women on abortions. 

“In Tennessee, we like to say we pass lawsuits, not laws,” Behn said. 

The lawsuit arose from a bill that made it illegal for adults to help minors get abortions without parental consent. Behn and other reproductive rights leaders decided to make a spectacle of the law. She took a sign that said, “Need an abortion?” and took it down to Broadway, which is in downtown Nashville. 

“It was a little bit of a theatrics,” Behn said. 

Behn tweeted shortly after the bill was introduced, saying she would help any young person travel out of state for an abortion. Then State Rep. Jason Zachary, a staunchly antiabortion politician in the state, cited it as an example of what the bill sought to curtail. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed the law into effect this year. 

“Their intention with this legislation that's now called the abortion trafficking bill was, one, to test the waters in terms of our First Amendment (rights) or our freedom of speech, as to what is being as to what you can share about abortion access,” Behn said. “And then also testing whether the ability to transport to move across state lines is acceptable.” 

Tennessee, which doesn’t allow ballot initiatives and in which the governor appoints state supreme court justices, has a challenging path for reproductive rights activists to travel in getting legal protections for abortion care. It’s been called the most Republican state by some groups that monitor and measure partisanship. 

Heavy gerrymandering makes it harder to flip state legislatures. Behn is part of Rural Organizing, a group that seeks to turn smaller towns and rural areas into the Democratic camp. Behn said that studies have shown that farming communities support abortion access. 

“A lot of the DC prognosticators would push back against the narrative or tell Democratic candidates not to run on abortion or talk about abortion,” Behn said. “Especially if you lived, especially if you were running in a rural district. That traditional perspective, I think, has changed dramatically”