Alaska lawmaker censured for asking if fatal child abuse saved taxpayer money

An Alaska lawmaker has been censured after asking whether fatal child abuse could actually serve as a "benefit to society".

Alaska's House of Representatives voted 35-1 to censure Republican Rep. David Eastman on Wednesday.

Mr Eastman - who has a history of making controversial remarks - was the only dissenter.

His question arose during a Monday hearing where experts testified about the long-term effects of child abuse.

Mr Eastman asked the experts how they would respond to what he said was an argument that "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 aren't needs for government services and whatnot over the whole course of that child's life?"

He added that some have made the argument the abuse could amount to a "cost savings" measure because the child would no longer need to rely on state government support.

"Did you say, 'a benefit for society?'" responded Trevor Storrs, the president and CEO of the Alaska Children's Trust.

"I'm not even sure how to answer that," Mr Storrs said, adding that the loss of a child was "unmeasurable" to a family and society.

In introducing a measure to censure Mr Eastman, Alaskan Democratic Rep. Andrew Gray - who said he had adopted a child from foster care who previously suffered abuse - said Mr Eastman had brought "great shame on this house".

"I would just say for me personally, my child is the greatest joy I've ever had - that there is no price tag on that," he said while choking up, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Mr Eastman's office did not respond to a request for comment, but during a hearing on his censure, the lawmaker denied he supported child abuse.

"The outrageous accusation that somehow I and members of my district support the extermination of people or support child abuse when I've staked my entire political career arguing for the opposite is not acceptable in this body," he said.

Mr Eastman, who is from Wasilla, became the first Alaska House member in history to be censured over a separate incident in 2017, when he claimed some Alaskans tried to get pregnant to take advantage of travel funded by the US health care programme Medicaid for medically necessary abortions.

"You have individuals who are in villages and are glad to be pregnant, so that they can have an abortion because there's a free trip to Anchorage involved," he told Alaska Public Media at the time.