¶ Overview
Zach Lahn was an out-of-touch anti-abortion extremist who supported a total abortion ban and argued that life begins at conception, claiming anti-abortion positions were the “only right choice.” He pledged to protect the unborn “without hesitation and without apology” and said his opposition to abortion extended to embryos created through IVF treatment.
Lahn said he would go further than Iowa’s restrictions on abortion medication, calling for a ban on abortion pills. Lahn’s opposition to abortion medication came as the Supreme Court allowed telehealth access to abortion medication to continue under current federal rules.
¶ Lahn Supported A Total Abortion Ban And Additional Restrictions On Reproductive Rights
¶ Lahn Supported A Total Abortion Ban And Additional Restrictions Based On His Belief That Life Begins At Conception
¶ Lahn Supported A Total Abortion Ban
Time: Lahn Supported A Total Abortion Ban. According to Time, “Throughout the campaign, Lahn fused traditional conservative themes with an aggressive critique of corporate agriculture, pesticide use, and pharmaceutical influence. He called for a total abortion ban, attacked what he described as liberal ideology in schools, and pledged to ban H-1B visa holders from taking jobs in state government and universities. [...] Lahn combined that health message with other hard-line positions that appealed to Iowa’s conservative grassroots supporters, including a total ban on abortion and eliminating liberal ideology from schools.” [Time, 6/3/26]
¶ Lahn Claimed Life Began At Conception And Opposed Abortion Rights
May 2026: Lahn Argued Life Began At Conception And Described Protecting That Life As The “Only Right Choice.” According to Lahn’s interview with Faith Works Live, "Well, yeah, I think first, I, you know, I, I'm very, very clear, I'm pro-life at conception, and I've been that way basically my entire adult life, as far, long back, far back as I remember, and when I get in arguments or debates with people about this. It's just like, well, once you have a fertilized egg, what else is it than a human? And once you have that belief that that's what it is, it cannot become anything else, then that's life. And the only choice we have, the right choice we have, is to protect that life and defend that life. And so that sort of, to me, has been just the foundational truth that I was raised with, you know, my dad has been a pastor for a couple decades, and these things, like I said, have been some of my earliest memories about what's been most important, especially growing up in the 80s and 90s, you know, the battle was, was, was intense, I mean, it was, it was intense then, because it was shortly after Roe v Wade, and and we saw, like, the faith portion of the right, especially really get energized about something that is so foundationally important. There's this, there's nothing more foundationally important than life. It just doesn't exist.” [Zach Lahn, Faith Works Live, 5/19/26] (VIDEO)
Lahn Said He Would Fight To Protect The Unborn “Without Hesitation And Without Apology.” According to Lahn’s Facebook, "A LETTER TO IOWA CONSERVATIVES To My Fellow Iowans, I am asking you for your trust, and if I’m to do that you should know exactly where I stand and what I’ll fight for — without hesitation and without apology. I believe life is sacred — beginning to end and we must protect the unborn and honor the dignity God gives every human life.”
[Facebook, Zach Lahn, 11/6/25]
¶ Lahn Said His Family “Refused” To Discard Embryos During Fertility Treatment Because They Believed Life Began At Conception
Lahn Said His Opposition To Abortion Extended To Embryos Created Through Fertility Treatment And Said His Family “Refused” To Discard Embryos Because They Believed Life Began At Conception. According to Iowa Public Radio, "Zach Lahn and Brad Sherman were asked at the debate hosted by Moms for Liberty, ‘When does life begin?’ They all said ‘at conception.’ [...] Lahn, a businessman from Belle Plaine, said this is ‘a foundational issue for civilization.’ ‘My wife and I went through a process, and we were at a fertility clinic,’ he said. ‘We are now banned for life from that clinic because we refused to discard the embryos. And the ones we refused turned into our youngest son, Fritz. And so that’s how far you have to go with this.’" [Iowa Public Radio, 1/28/26]
¶ Lahn Supported A Ban On Abortion Pills
¶ Lahn Supported Banning Abortion Pills And Called For Additional Restrictions Beyond Existing Iowa Law
May 2026: Lahn Said He Would “Take It Further” Than Existing Anti-Abortion Laws And Argued There Should Be “No Such Thing” As Abortion Medication Through The Mail. According to Lahn’s interview with Faith Works Live, "I often say that, well, first the legislature, I believe, has done a really good job of protecting life. I would take it further. I do believe that there's other things we can do. I mean, there should be no such things as an abortion pill via mail. It just shouldn't exist. That's like that's something that number one, I don't like these in the first place. I'm opposed to them, but number two, we have to have this as a, as a discussion face to face with a doctor, and like understanding what's really going on here. The wrong thing to do is to make it easy and flippant, and to sort of devalue what's happening through this process, because again, this is a life issue, this is the core issue." [Zach Lahn, Faith Works Live, 5/19/26] (VIDEO)
- 2026: Iowa Passed Legislation Limiting Access To Abortion Medication Through Telehealth And Mail-Order Services. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, "Gov. Kim Reynolds signed 13 bills into law Tuesday — including several that could impact Iowans’ access to reproductive healthcare. House File 2788, the final bill debated in the Iowa Senate during the 2026 legislative session, is a measure restricting access to abortion-inducing medications through telehealth and mail-order prescription services. Under the new law, these medications, such as mifepristone, will have to be prescribed in person. The law, which will officially take effect July 1, comes amid a national discussion on access to mifepristone, which is used to terminate pregnancies before 10 weeks and to treat miscarriages, via telehealth services.” [Iowa Capital Dispatch, 5/19/26]
¶ The United States Supreme Court Allowed Telehealth Access To Abortion Medication To Continue Under Current Federal Rules
May 2026: The Supreme Court Blocked A Lower Court Ruling That Would Have Restricted Telehealth And Mail-Order Access To Mifepristone. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, “Mail-order and telehealth prescriptions for the abortion-inducing drug were temporarily restricted following a U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in early May in the federal lawsuit Louisiana v. Food and Drug Administration. The appeals court decision blocked an 2023 FDA rule allowing the drug to be prescribed and dispensed without an in-person visit with a healthcare provider. The U.S. Supreme Court decided last week to let telehealth access to abortion medication continue under the current FDA rules as the lawsuit proceeds. The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision is not expected to affect the enforcement of Iowa’s restriction on mail-order and telehealth prescription for these drugs. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 28 states have restrictions on abortion-inducing medications in place." [Iowa Capital Dispatch, 5/19/26]