Lauterbach “not so easy to calculate” – Health Minister collects broadside from Lanz

Created: 05/26/2022Updated: 05/26/2022 15:37

By: Florian Naumann

Karl Lauterbach on May 25 on “Markus Lanz” on ZDF.

© Screenshot: ZDF media library

"Killer variant" - is that "fear rhetoric"?

Karl Lauterbach is back with Markus Lanz.

Have to listen to harsh criticism in the talk about monkey pox and Corona.

Hamburg – It has become comparatively quiet about the topic of the corona virus.

Since a large part of the restrictions were lifted and the failure to vaccinate in the Bundestag, everyday life almost feels like it was before the pandemic.

But not so long ago, Corona was the constant topic at “Markus Lanz” and Karl Lauterbach (SPD) was the most sought-after guest in the discussion group.

Now monkeypox has appeared in Germany.

"What is more dangerous: a corona wave in autumn or monkeypox?" moderator Lanz wanted to know from the Minister of Health on Wednesday (May 25).

Lauterbach has a clear answer to this: “Of course, a new wave of Covid in the fall.

In the case of monkeypox, there is no fear of a pandemic.”  

Karl Lauterbach near Lanz: "Covid is changing 100,000 times as fast as monkeypox"

The journalist Mariam Lau notes that it is once again a zoonosis, "that is, a disease because we get too close to nature".

From their point of view, this is remarkably little discussed.

Lau sees it as "something threatening, it's happening more and more often now".

Lauterbach agrees.

People could adapt well to changed living conditions, also thanks to aids such as "clothing, heating, air conditioners".

Animals are able to cope with temperature changes of a maximum of two degrees.

"This is strongly related to climate change, habitats are disappearing, we are encroaching on them," Lauterbach puts it in a nutshell. 

It is estimated that there are 200 new disease outbreaks each year.

"These outbreaks often have the potential to become pandemics," says Lauterbach.

However, this does not apply to monkeypox.

The first case of this disease in a human was recognized in Germany in 1958.

"The monkeypox genome is known, it hasn't changed much," explains the SPD politician.

As a comparison, he cites: "Covid is changing 100,000 times faster than monkeypox, there will be no pandemic."

"Markus Lanz" - these guests discussed on May 25th:

• Karl Lauterbach (SPD)

  – Federal Minister of Health

• Ulrike Scharf (CSU)

  – Minister of State for Family, Labor and Social Affairs in Bavaria

• Alicia Baier

  - Gynecologist

• Mariam Lau

  –

  journalist of the

  time

Lanz brings the discussion to life when he confronts Lauterbach with an interview in the

: In it, the Minister of Health warned of a so-called “killer variant” of the corona virus.

Even the Green coalition colleague Konstantin von Notz had publicly criticized this choice of words.

“Ministers are often rated on the B grade.

Where they stood, how they said something, but what is important is that the matter is correct," Lauterbach tries to iron out.

However, Lau still has a broadside in store: "There were a number of incidents where you were experienced as overshooting and not so easily predictable." 

Corona and monkeypox near Lanz: CSU politician – “We have to get away from fear rhetoric”

Bavaria's family minister, Ulrike Scharf (CSU), also criticizes the health minister's choice of words.

It is important and a form of political leadership to provide orientation and to express clarity.

However, she also says: "We have to get away from fear rhetoric like the killer variant." But then an interesting twist is revealed.

The CSU politician shows understanding for Lauterbach: "There is no blueprint for the pandemic, mistakes are made here."

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Lance can hardly believe it.

Visibly surprised, he turns to Mariam Lau: "Does the CSU have more understanding of health policy than the coalition partner?" The journalist confirms this assessment: "Lauterbach had more influence on the CDU-led government than on the current one, which is an SPD chancellor As evidence, Lau cited the fact that Lauterbach “had to admit defeat” when it came to compulsory vaccination and the Infection Protection Act.

Lau's thesis that the traffic light coalition would never have existed if the alliance had tried to draft a government draft for mandatory vaccination, Lauterbach vehemently replies: "It's a robber's gun and not right."

Lanz' ZDF talk about abortion - gynaecologist: "No law prevents abortions"

In his introduction, Lanz describes the second topic of the program as one that could lead to “a culture war”.

On May 13, the Bundestag had argued about the abolition of Section 219a of the Criminal Code.

The gynecologist Alicia Baier explains: "It's about the fact that correct and factual information on the subject of abortion is prohibited." Practices should only provide information that they carry out abortions, but say no further word about processes or methods.

Journalist Lau believes that many in the discussion actually mean Section 218 of the Criminal Code.

This classifies abortions after the twelfth week as an unlawful act, despite counseling and a three-day waiting period. 

Baier talks himself into a rage: "No criminal law prevents abortions.

The WHO also says that there is no evidence for it. ”In fact, it means that this procedure is hardly offered anymore.

In Munich, for example, there are only four practices that perform abortions. 

CSU politician Scharf points out that it is also about the woman's right to self-determination, but not only: "We are forgetting the child's right to life." Paragraph 4 added to Section 219a has already provided a remedy.

A list of the German Medical Association should list the practices that carry out abortions and explain the respective methods.

Baier countered that practices were reluctant to be included in this list.

She herself was reported and did not know for four months whether there would be a trial.

"Many are afraid of hostilities," reports Baier. 

Lauterbach agrees: "This ominous list acts like a pillory." Destigmatization is important.

The intervention must be treated like any other.

“It is absurd that you offer a perfectly legal intervention and are attacked for it.” On the other hand, there was agreement on another point.

"There is one way to protect the embryo, and that is through contraception," says Baier.

She demands that contraception becomes a health insurance benefit.

As Scharf notes, the application is already in the Bundestag.

According to this, the contraceptive costs for women up to the age of 25 should be covered by the health insurance companies. 

"Markus Lanz" with Karl Lauterbach - the conclusion of the program

The program starts with a discussion about government policy, but the round of talks only really gets going when Karl Lauterbach is confronted with his choice of words "killer variant".

The journalist Miriam Lau even describes the Minister of Health as “not so easily predictable” in this context.

However, the debate becomes energetic when it comes to the abolition of Section 219a.

This is mainly due to gynecologist Alicia Baier, who not only calls for the unrestricted legalization of abortions, but also for contraceptives to be covered by health insurance companies.

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