Alaska Republican Touts Benefits of Children Being Abused to Death
By: James Bickerton (Newsweek)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A legislature in Alaska caused outrage after questioning whether the death of child abuse victims could be "a cost savings," because it would mean they don't need "government services" later in life.
Republican David Eastman, who sits in the Alaska House of Representatives, made the comment on Monday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
The committee was meeting to discuss how children are impacted by physical or sexual abuse, as well as witnessing domestic violence within their family home.
Lawmakers were shown a study indicating each incident of fatal child abuse costs society $1.5 million, a figure reached by assessing the impact of trauma and the child's loss of earnings over a lifetime.
However, Eastman was unimpressed, and questioned whether fatal child abuse could be economically beneficial to wider society, an argument he claimed to have heard.
Eastman said: "It can be argued, periodically, that it's actually a cost savings because that child is not going to need any of those government services that they might otherwise be entitled to receive and need based on growing up in this type of environment."
The remark horrified Trevor Storrs, president of the Alaska Children's Trust (ACT), who hit back describing the loss of a child as "unmeasurable."
Democratic Representative Cliff Groh, who used to work as a prosecutor covering child abuse allegations, said he was "disturbed" by Easterman's comment.
Representative Sarah Vance, the Republican who claims the House Judiciary Committee, said Easterman, who doesn't serve on any committees, had been at the hearing "at my invitation."
According to the Anchorage Daily News, she added: "I wished that he asked questions with a little bit more sensitivity to the listeners and how they're perceived, and I can have that conversation.
"But he's there on his own accord and only represents himself."
Vance later suggested Eastman had been trying to make an argument against abortion, which some consider to be "child abuse."
Speaking with the Anchorage Daily News via text message, Eastman said: "I was pleased to hear ACT advocating against child abuse, but a child's value comes not from future productivity, but from the fact that every child is made in the image of God."
Newsweek has contacted Eastman to ask if he stands by his original remarks.
Eastman, a former soldier, was reelected to the Alaska House of Representatives in November 2022.
A lawsuit was filed attempting unsuccessfully to bar Eastman from office due to his membership of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing paramilitary group.
A number of Oath Keepers have been convicted over their role in the storming of Congress on January 6 2021, it a bid to stop the 2020 presidential election result being certified.
Eastman was present in Washington, D.C. that day but there is no indication he took part in the disturbances, which he condemned. He later promoted a discredited conspiracy theory, suggesting the violence could have been committed by left-wing movement Antifa.
Sometimes I am at a loss for words.
further proof that republicans don't care about kids, only as long as they get born...
Kinda reminds me former Rep Grayson's comment...
I guess Rep Grayson wasn't far off.
Force people to have children then say so what if they kill their own kids, a cost saving measure....
Another reactionary scumbag. This is where the MAGA Republican organization is heading.
I read that the latest round of cuts some republicans want to make in DC are to Medicaid, food stamps, etc...
That's not new for them. They want to end those programs completely.
It’s amazing how much trouble some excitable progressives have reading and comprehending the English language. I don’t know if they are just gullible and easily misled by partisan media or genuinely refuse to think.
He asked a question. He’s not touting anything, or advocating anything.
the witness is putting an economic value on a child’s life. The representative wondered if that’s true in this circumstance. The horror!
If we treat the witness with the same bad faith the article treats the representative, than the witness only believes child abuse is bad because it costs the state money.
That premise is the same some here use to actually support abortion. Of course, when they go much farther than this guy and actually justify ending human life to save a few bucks, they think nothing of it.
There is only one way to interpret what he said.
The rest is just excuses.
Yes, the one I used based on the actual words used. Interpretations relying on ignorance, imagination and partisan desires aren’t worth anything.
What witness ? This was a committee meeting.
Your #4 post is a whole lotta "who shot John" in an effort to justify this man's vile comments.
They're well known for defending the indefensible of the republicans/gop/gqp.
You know witnesses routinely appear at committee meetings, right?
Think of j6.
shit head conservatives have to defend shit head conservatives like themselves
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There was no witness.
Who showed them the study? Who did he ask the question of?
This is bad hill for you to die on. Not only are you wrong, but it doesn't change my argument if he asked it of another committeeman
Oh please, just read the man's words.
His words were a question to a witness testifying before his committee about the factors the witness used to calculate the economic value put on child's life?
Why are you denying this? Why are you falsely claiming there was no witness?
There is no 'his committee', he serves on zip!
Representative Sarah Vance who invited him was likely hoping he would act in some sane manner ... he proved her wrong.
What the FUCK is wrong with people????? AND I bet he claims to be "pro-life".
He does
What a maroon! Doesn't he realize that for every dead child there is one less kid to put to work?
Is it any wonder that the once upper case Grand Old Party of Abe Lincoln is known now only in the lower case as merely "the gop"?
Deplorable Or Not?
That guy is definitely a total piece of shit.
West Point graduates call on Rep. David Eastman to resign from office
" “We do not all agree on the direction this country should take. But we all agree that your conduct goes against every value you have ever claimed to have in common with the rest of the Long Gray Line,” the letter reads. “It pains us, especially those of us who were your classmates, to see a fellow-graduate conducting himself in such a manner. It is our solemn responsibility to demand accountability for such disturbing and dishonorable conduct.”