Utah 4th District debate highlights opposite views on abortion, education and transgender issues

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens and Democratic candidate Katrina Fallick-Wang sought common ground on the economy, immigration and foreign policy but found unbridgeable disagreement on education, abortion and transgender students' participation in sports during a televised debate on Thursday.

Transgender participation in sports

Owens, who has represented the state's 4th Congressional District since 2021, said he supported a national ban on biological boys who are transgender playing in girls sports. Former President Donald Trump proposed a similar blanket ban during an all-female town hall last week. The question comes down to enforcing fairness for female athletes and affirming the traditional definitions of male and female, Owens said.

"Let's not force something that is not common sense on the rest of us and think that we're going to take it," Owens said.

Fallick-Wang, an email marketing manager and a first-time candidate, said as "a member of the LGBTQ community" with a transgender child she decided to run for office to "protect" gay and transgender children. Fallick-Wang, who has frequently worked as a community activist on progressive issues, said allowing struggling children to play sports with the gender they identify with poses no harm to their peers but prohibiting it could result in "hampering their future."

Education: Standardized or customized?

The candidates also expressed opposing views on the topic of education.

Owens said he would support a school voucher program, like the Utah Fits All scholarship, to be implemented nationally. As chairman of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, Owens has emphasized free market solutions to educational disparities with bills that would create K-12 scholarships for homeschooling resources and ban college accreditors from requiring diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Fallick-Wang opposed a national school voucher system, saying it would widen disparities in education quality. If she were elected in the district that favored Owens by nearly 30 percentage points in 2022, Fallick-Wang said she would push for public school funding to be taken from the states and controlled entirely by the federal government, with Congress appropriating education funds for the whole country to be distributed by the Department of Education.

"Children that live in those states that don't have the same kind of revenue shouldn't get worse educations just because of the state that they live in," Fallick-Wang said.

Abortion: Should Congress decide the issue for the states?

Fallick-Wang told reporters after the debate she "strongly" supports federal legislation permitting abortion through all nine months of pregnancy without restrictions for elective abortions. Fallick-Wang described all abortions, including late-term elective abortions of unborn human fetuses, as "health care," and said all abortion-related decisions should be left to patients and their doctors.

Owens said he agreed with Fallick-Wang that restricting abortion is not the role of the federal government. But he expressed strong support for Utah's abortion law that prohibits all elective abortions with exceptions for rape, incest and conditions threatening the life of the mother. Debates over abortion should remain at the state level, Owens said. If residents disagree with their state's abortion restrictions, "you can always move."

'America First' on economy and foreign policy

The candidates shared much more willingness to compromise on issues affecting the rising cost of living, the crisis at the southern border and conflicts overseas.

Cost of living:

Owens blamed the Biden-Harris administration for exacerbating inflation. He said Congress should make public lands available for home construction as a way of increasing housing supply. Owens also said lawmakers must be willing to reform Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare or else "we're not talking about our debt."

Fallick-Wang also supported reforms to curb national spending. However, her responses focused on ways to "build revenue," including by increasing taxes on corporations and closing tax loopholes. Fallick-Wang proposed prohibiting large firms and foreign investors from buying up homes and dominating the landlord business.

Crisis at the border:

Fallick-Wang said bipartisanship is essential to solving the country's broken immigration system. "Extreme" views on both sides of the aisle have prevented a solution, which must include increased border security in addition to a more accessible path to citizenship for migrant families.

Owens said bipartisanship is only possible if both parties have "the same endgame" of putting "America first." Owens called for a return to Trump-era border policies: "The key is how can we bring somebody into place, President Trump, that understands the threat and begins to alleviate that threat in the fastest way possible."

Conflicts overseas:

Owens called Russia "an evil actor" and said there is a place for American support of Ukraine as long as Ukraine explains exactly how U.S. tax dollars are spent and how they plan to conclude the conflict. Owens "absolutely" believes Israel's tactics in its war in Gaza have been justified and said America's job is to support its ally and not "slow them down."

Fallick-Wang said the United States must continue its tradition of supporting democracies under threat by aiding Ukraine in defeating Russia without ceding any territory. Fallick-Wang said the United States must push Israel in a more "diplomatic direction" that honors the lives of Israelis and Palestinians in its war with Iran-backed terrorist organizations.

The debate was hosted by the Utah Debate Commission at the University of Utah's Eccles Broadcast Center on Thursday evening. It was moderated by KUER assistant news director Caroline Ballard.

To watch the debate in its entirety, click on the video player below.

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