‘INSULTING’

GOP Lawmaker Censured After Talking Up ‘Cost Savings’ of Dead Children

State Rep. David Eastman went viral with his comments about the supposed economic upsides of fatal child abuse.

The Alaska House of Representatives voted to censure a Republican lawmaker on Wednesday after he sparked outrage by arguing that lethal child abuse can bring “cost savings” to the government. State Rep. David Eastman on Monday said at a committee hearing that he had “heard on occasion where in the case where child abuse is fatal, obviously it’s not good for the child, but it’s actually a benefit to society,” because the child won’t need government services that they would have required if they hadn’t been killed. The House voted 35-1 to censure Eastman over his comments, with Eastman alone dissenting. Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andrew Gray, who brought the censure motion, called the remarks “offensive, insulting, and unsubstantiated statements that undermine the dignity of the House.” Eastman had previously been censured in 2017 after claiming some women in Alaska get pregnant in order to have a “free trip to the city” to get an abortion.