Government backs Drug Commissioner Streeck – no doubts about political credibility

Background: Birth in the USA

The background is the debate surrounding the fatherhood of the CDU Bundestag member. According to the magazine "Bunte," the son of Streeck and his husband Paul Zubeil was born in the US state of Idaho. In mid-April, Streeck and Zubeil publicly announced that they had become parents to a son.

The opposition and parts of the public had subsequently raised the question of whether a member of the federal government who has had a child through a surrogate in the USA can remain in office. The federal government has now rejected this criticism. It is a matter of personal lifestyle that must be separated from political activity.

Kornelius explicitly asked that this distinction be respected: "Und deswegen bitte ich, diese sehr klare Unterscheidung auch zu respektieren." With this, the federal government clearly sided with its Drug Commissioner and expressly denied any political consequences for him.

Reaction of the Federal Government

Streeck himself did not comment on the circumstances of his fatherhood, according to government sources. The federal government also did not comment substantively on the procedure in the USA. It merely pointed to the separation between private life and political mandate.

Parallel to the discussion surrounding Streeck, a debate erupted over the parliamentary group leadership of the Union. Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn had come under criticism in recent weeks over his use of a surrogate and had subsequently resigned from his office. The federal government made clear at the government press conference that it has no business evaluating the personal life circumstances of its members as long as these do not contradict political actions.

Parallel debate over Jens Spahn

The statements from Berlin mark the provisional endpoint of a multi-day debate that was triggered by the public disclosure of Streeck's fatherhood. The federal government simultaneously signaled that it would not comment further on the matter as long as no new facts emerge.

The Drug Commissioner of the federal government is an independent office directly assigned to the Federal Ministry of Health. In this function, Streeck coordinates the federal government's drug and addiction policy and serves as the point of contact for prevention, therapy, and research. The federal government gave priority to a fact-based debate over partisan blame.

With regard to the ongoing discussions about reproductive rights and surrogacy in Germany, the federal government referred to existing legal regulations. A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Justice stated that the federal government would not currently change the existing legal situation on surrogacy. Here too, the personal lifestyle of those affected was separated from political assessment.

Political Assessment

The statement from Berlin comes at a time when questions of reproductive medicine are being debated more intensively in society. The federal government emphasized that it has no business evaluating individual decisions by officeholders as long as these are in accordance with applicable law. For Streeck, this means that he can continue to carry out his office as Drug Commissioner without restrictions.

The federal government's reaction is being observed in political Berlin. While the Greens and the Left called for a fundamental debate on surrogacy, support for Kornelius's line came from the coalition. SPD parliamentary group vice-chair Verena Hubertz stated that a politician's personal life plans are his or her private matter as long as they are legally permissible.