This article examines recently revealed statements and positions from Aftyn Behn, a Democrat running in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, and outlines why those stances have drawn sharp criticism.
The more we hear from Aftyn Behn, the clearer it becomes that her views are far outside mainstream Tennessee politics. Voters in the 7th District should expect a candidate whose statements and policy preferences repeatedly clash with traditional values and public safety priorities. Her recent comments and deletions only amplify concerns about judgment and priorities.
Behn publicly disparaged the city of Nashville, a place she’d represent, and later attempted to walk back that comment without fully repairing the damage. Deleting offensive posts is not the same as taking responsibility, and residents notice when a candidate seeks to erase controversy rather than explain it. That pattern raises questions about how she would handle bigger controversies in office.
She has embraced calls to defund the police and at times appeared to praise violent rhetoric about dismantling police infrastructure. When asked to retract or clarify, she declined on multiple occasions, signaling that those views are not accidental. That posture suggests a willingness to upend public safety rather than pursue pragmatic reform.
Behn has also voiced views that strike at the heart of family life in Tennessee, framing marriage itself as a problematic institution and criticizing women who choose traditional family paths. That line of attack alienates many who see family and community as stabilizing forces. Her rhetoric frames personal choices as political betrayals, which is a sharp departure from respecting individual freedom of choice.
“My therapist always asks me to transcribe my dreams when they happen,” Behn said, “and the recurring dream I’ve had is standing up in a Cafeteria full of women… and saying ‘I don’t want children. I want power! And just screaming it at the top of my lungs.” “And for someone who grew up with my mother telling me never have kids because you will…have to give up a lot, you’ll have to sacrifice professionally,” Behn continued. “Where I am now with seeing the consequences of women having kids and being in the political field and what they’re able to achieve, because we don’t offer…the political field hasn’t met the challenge of working moms.”
Those comments read as not just a critique of social structures but as contempt for women who choose marriage and parenthood. They run counter to the “my body, my choice” rhetoric she otherwise expects to own, since here she criticizes women for exercising agency differently. Voters who value family-serving public policy will see that as a real disconnect.
Behn also promotes “self-managed” at-home abortions as part of a broader reproductive agenda, which raises serious safety questions. Pushing pills and clandestine procedures without reliable medical supervision invites foreseeable harms, especially where coercion or abuse can be involved. Advocating for workarounds around medical oversight is a risky gambit for public health and family stability.
“We are really living in a dystopian reality,” Behn said. “So does this not mean that for TN, groups on the ground will continue to provide training in terms of self-managed abortions…so, instead of going to a doctor… how do you do it at home? We will continue to support reproductive justice organizations and grassroots movements, and we’ll continue to figure out how to get abortion pills to people.”
The real-world dangers of that approach are not hypothetical. There are documented cases where pills were obtained and used without informed consent, producing disastrous outcomes for women and girls. In one case a woman caught and reversed a covert attempt by a partner to end a pregnancy, but in another a teenager was hospitalized after being forced to take pills ordered by her mother.
A pattern emerges: rhetoric that denigrates family choices, endorsements of defunding public safety, and promotion of unsupervised medical procedures. Those positions form a coherent political outlook that many Tennesseans will find troubling. A candidate who elevates these views will have to explain how they translate into responsible representation for families, children, and communities in the 7th District.
