(SeaPRwire) –   By: Gavin Thorne

Jens Spahn didn’t resign just because he’s a hypocrite. He fell because Germany’s surrogacy ban was already a hypocritical farce. It just took a high-profile gay conservative MP to blow the whole thing open for everyone to see. The public fury isn’t just about his broken public words. It’s about the unspoken gap between what German law writes on the books and what wealthy Germans actually do every day to get around it.

Jens Spahn was parliamentary leader of Germany’s ruling CDU bloc. He and his husband Daniel Funke welcomed a son Georg via a US surrogate earlier this week. Back in 2015, Spahn told GQ he personally opposed “rented wombs” as a gay Christian. He said accepting he could not be a natural father took humility he did not know he could muster. Spahn called the birth of his son the greatest joy he had ever known.

The CDU reaffirmed its opposition to surrogacy as recently as this February. Spahn attended that party convention himself. The party’s resolution kept surrogacy banned in Germany to stop abuse, exploitation and health risks. Surrogacy carries up to five years jail in Germany, but only for doctors and brokers. Spahn and his husband face no criminal charges at all under current rules.

Criticism came from every corner of German politics. A senior CDU state leader from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania demanded Spahn resign immediately. He said a sitting elected official cannot privately contradict the core policy he publicly defends. That sort of open contradiction destroys all public trust in the party and its members. Right-wing AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said Spahn’s resignation was long overdue. She dragged up his old pandemic misconduct claims from when he served as Germany’s health minister. She said he undermined a law he himself voted for, destroying any remaining credibility.

Spahn first tried to defend his decision to the press. Then he quickly folded and handed in his resignation on Saturday. He stepped down from his parliamentary leadership role. He kept his seat as a regular elected lawmaker, with no mention of giving that up. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the resignation was unavoidable and the correct move. Spahn admitted his personal joy of starting a family with his husband conflicted with his political role. What no one talks about is that going abroad for surrogacy is already common for wealthy Germans. The loophole he used is open to anyone with enough money to pay for the process.

This scandal will force a national reckoning that overturns Germany’s hypocritical surrogacy ban within five years.

Author bio: Gavin Thorne, investigative journalist tracking special interests and legislative affairs based in Washington, D.C.