Child-abuse remark censured in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska — An Alaska lawmaker with a history of incendiary remarks was censured by the state House after he said it has been argued that cases of fatal child abuse can be a “cost savings” because the child won’t need government services.

The House voted 35-1 on Wednesday to censure Republican Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla, with Eastman the lone dissenter. He was previously censured, in 2017, over comments he made suggesting there are women in Alaska who try to get pregnant to get a “free trip to the city” for abortions.

During a committee hearing Monday on adverse childhood experiences, Eastman asked the testifier how he would respond “to the argument that I have 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 there is not a need for government services that child would otherwise be entitled to if they had lived.

The testifier, Trevor Storrs, president and CEO of the Alaska Children’s Trust, asked Eastman to repeat what he’d said. “Did you say, ‘a benefit for society?’”

“Talking dollars,” Eastman said, referencing a figure in a document provided to the committee that was related to costs associated with neglect and abuse.

Storrs called the loss of a child unmeasurable.

Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat who brought the censure motion, said Eastman should be censured for “offensive, insulting and unsubstantiated statements that undermine the dignity of the House.” Gray said he also was speaking as a parent.

(AP/Becky Bohrer) Alaska state Rep. David Eastman speaks with reporters Wednesday in Juneau, Alaska, after the House voted to censure him.