Jens Spahn Resigns as Head of CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group After Surrogacy Debate

As the reason for his resignation, Spahn cited the conflict between his private life and his political office. „Ihm sei in den vergangenen Tagen bewusst geworden, dass sein persönliches Glück, gemeinsam mit seinem Mann eine Familie zu gründen und Vater zu werden, nicht vereinbar mit seinem politischen Amt sei, schreibt Spahn.“ At the same time, he declared: „Denn der Spagat zwischen meiner privaten Entscheidung zu einem Kind durch Leihmutterschaft und der nachvollziehbaren Erwartung an mich als Vorsitzenden unserer Fraktion ist grösser geworden, als ich es erwartet hatte.“

Spahn's Justification in the Letter

As early as Friday, calls for his resignation had come from several state associations. The CDU state chairman of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Daniel Peters, had told the „Bild“ newspaper: „Jens Spahn ist als Vorsitzender der Unionsfraktion nicht mehr tragbar und muss zurücktreten.“ Peters pointed to the role model function of the parliamentary group leader and emphasised that Spahn had acted „in voller Absicht über in Deutschland geltendes Recht hinweggesetzt“. A new state parliament will be elected in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on 20 September.

Sharp criticism also came from federal politics. The Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Michael Brand (CDU), wrote in a guest article for the „Fuldaer Zeitung“ that Spahn had committed a „zwar nicht formal, aber moralisch klaren Rechtsbruch“. What Spahn had done was „eine echte Zumutung und unglaubwürdig, das muss man so klar sagen“. The deputy chairwoman of The Left in the Bundestag, Gebel, told the „Rheinische Post“ that when women needed emergency contraception or wanted to terminate a pregnancy, Spahn confronted them „mit Strafrecht und Misstrauen“.

Criticism from Within His Own Party

CDU Bundestag member Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker warned in the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: „Nicht alles, was medizinisch machbar ist, ist auch ethisch akzeptabel.“ Human life must not „nicht zur Ware gemacht, eine Frau darf nicht auf ihre biologische Funktion reduziert werden“. Winkelmeier-Becker stressed that this contradicted „der Menschenwürde und öffnet den Weg für Missbrauch und Ausbeutung“. The Bavarian Social Minister and CSU Women's Union chairwoman Ulrike Scharf told the radio station Antenne Bayern: „Finanzielle Möglichkeiten dürfen nicht über moralische Grundsätze gestellt werden."

Clear words also came from the churches. The Catholic Bishop of Passau, Stefan Oster, spoke of an „echten Skandal". If „ein prominenter CDU-Politiker in Sachen Leihmutterschaft zur Erfüllung eigener Wünsche gegen die Gesetze des Landes und gegen die Grundlinien der eigenen Partei in dieser für unser Menschenbild so wichtigen Sache bewusst verstößt – und damit auch noch positiv werbend für Leihmutterschaft eintritt, halte ich das für einen echten Skandal", Oster declared.

Voices from the Churches

Chancellor Friedrich Merz had previously spoken with unusual clarity. At a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday evening, he said: „Mir ist bewusst, dass dieses Thema menschlich, juristisch, gesellschaftlich, ethisch sehr viele Menschen in Deutschland bewegt" and emphasised: „Wir haben eine klare Rechtslage." The Deutsche Presse-Agentur learned from circles close to the party leader that Merz had already urged Spahn to step down before his resignation. Merz announced that the matter would be discussed in the CDU executive committee on Monday.

Spahn himself had previously defended himself in a podcast with Paul Ronzheimer and in the „Bild" newspaper. He said he had „lange mit mir gerungen, auch was das Thema Leihmutterschaft angeht. Ich bin lange zerrissen gewesen." He had also recognised as a Christian „das eine die reine Lehre ist und das andere das echte Leben." At the same time, he called on his colleagues to adopt a humane tone: „Lasst uns bei aller Klarheit und Entschiedenheit in der Sache immer auch menschlich im Ton bleiben. Denn dies zeichne christlich-demokratische Volksparteien der Mitte aus." The „zunehmende Unerbittlichkeit" in the debate had made him „sehr nachdenklich", Spahn told „Bild".

Merz Speaks with Unusual Clarity

On the margins of the debate, the former Hessian Minister-President Roland Koch also spoke out and criticised the vehemence of the reactions. According to a „Bild" report, Koch spoke of a shitstorm that was losing „jedes Maß", thereby positioning himself as one of the few publicly visible supporters of Spahn against the broad current of criticism from his own ranks. The long-serving CDU Bundestag member Wolfgang Bosbach told Deutschlandfunk that for many in the Union, a point had been reached „wo sie sagen, jetzt sei Schluss". Spahn's resignation „wäre eine Lösung, die die Fraktion befreien würde".

The head of the North Rhine-Westphalian State Chancellery, Nathanael Liminski, said in the „Interview der Woche" on Deutschlandfunk that many local politicians pointed out that this „zu einer gewissen Glaubwürdigkeitsfrage dann wird". Bosbach described it as „hochproblematisch" if the impression arose that different rules applied to politicians. When asked about a possible resignation on the podcast with Ronzheimer, Spahn had still stated: „Am Ende kann ja nur die Fraktion darüber entscheiden, wie es weitergeht."

Surrogacy is prohibited in Germany by the Embryo Protection Act. According to reports, Spahn and his husband had resorted to the services of a surrogate abroad, in the USA, in order to start a family. This became a political controversy in which critics accused Spahn of having co-responsibility for the legal situation in this area as the former Federal Minister of Health from 2018 to 2021.

Spahn had emphasised in his letter: „Eines ist mir in den letzten Tagen immer klarer geworden: Meine Familie ist mir das Wichtigste." He left a question about the succession at the top of the Union parliamentary group initially open. Asked how things would proceed, he told „Bild": „Ich werde die Frage, wie es weitergeht, mit der Fraktion natürlich erörtern, wenn wir uns im September wiedersehen." The first regular faction meeting after the parliamentary summer break is on 8 September.

Open Questions About the Succession

The deputy chairwoman of the Union parliamentary group expressed the hope that Spahn would spare the Union months of debate, „aber die Erkenntnis müsse bei ihm selbst reifen". CSU Landtag faction leader Klaus Holetschek still expected an explanation from Spahn, „warum er das getan hat oder was sein Beweggrund war". Chancellor Merz, for his part, said it was a matter of waiting for the executive committee's deliberations on Monday.

Spahn's letter to the faction concluded with a personal statement: „Für mich gibt es, und das wird mir jede Stunde immer bewusster, nichts Wichtigeres als meine Familie." With this, he had at least mentally played through the resignation, commented the Berlin correspondent Birgit Baumann in the „Rheinische Post".

The reporting on the resignation is based on communications from the news agencies Reuters, dpa and afp. Spahn's letter to the faction members was made available to several German media outlets. On social networks, such as X, Spahn was simultaneously criticised for having, through the publication of the surrogacy story, advertised a procedure that is prohibited in Germany.

Reactions from the Opposition

On the margins of the debate, Left politician Gebel pointed out that reproductive rights „weder von bigotter Moral noch vom Geldbeutel abhängig sein" dürften. At the same time, she warned that reproductive medicine was a growing market in Germany that hoped to „auf neue lukrative Geschäftsmodelle ohne ethische Limits".

The Union parliamentary