GOP Lawmaker Censured for Touting ‘Cost Savings’ of Dead Children


Wednesday, the Alaska House of Representatives voted to condemn a Republican lawmaker for suggesting that homicidal child abuse can result in “cost savings” for the government. State Representative David Eastman stated at a committee hearing on Monday that he had “heard on occasion that deadly child abuse is actually beneficial to society” since the child will no longer require government assistance that they would have needed if they had not been killed. The House voted 35-1 to censure Eastman for his remarks, with only Eastman voting against it. The resolution to censure was introduced by Democratic Representative Andrew Gray of Anchorage, who described the remarks as “offensive, disrespectful, and unfounded claims that demean the dignity of the House.” Eastman was censured in 2017 for saying that some Alaskan women become pregnant to have a “free ticket to the city” for an abortion.