10 December 12 - 18, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents fundamentally alter the city’s operations. Johnson was one of the few elected officials past or present who was not involved in the public campaign against the propositions. (Johnson did not acknowledge the other community-led charter amendment that passed with an even more resounding ap- proval rating than amendments S and U: the one that decriminalizes marijuana posses- sion up to 4 ounces.) On Thursday morning, the mayor re- marked that the passage of propositions S and U sent a “resounding message to City Hall.” “Our residents told us loud and clear that they want more police officers on our streets and a city government that is more account- able, more responsive and more transpar- ent,” Johnson said. “These calls from our residents … could not be more clear, and City Hall must listen.” ▼ CRIME SEASON OF PEACE, JOY AND SCAMMING FBI WARNS OF ONLINE SHOPPING SCAMS AHEAD OF CHRISTMAS. BY ALYSSA FIELDS W e live in a winter wonderland where one click can land the sea- son’s latest and greatest toy on your doorstep in 24 hours, batteries in- cluded. Online retail has changed the gift shopping game. But with every Christmas miracle comes a thieving Grinch ready to steal all that is merry and bright. Online re- tail scams are year-round, but the increase in online holiday shopping increases the chance of getting bamboozled. “Don’t become a scammer’s next victim,” warns the FBI in a cautionary message ahead of the holiday season. The statement talks about the most common scams, in the spirit of saving Christmas and money. “Scammers can rob you of hard-earned money, personal information, and, at the very least, a festive mood,” says the statement. The FBI identified the four most com- mon scams in the online retail market — non-delivery scams, non-payment scams, auction fraud and gift card fraud. Non-delivery scams are self-explanatory; you pay for a good and it never gets deliv- ered. And, no, the post office didn’t lose it. Non-payment scams are the reverse; you ship something and you never get paid. In 2023, non-delivery and non-payment scams cost $309 million in losses. Auction fraud is a fancy term for false ad- vertising. If you’ve ever ordered a mint-con- dition collectible and it showed up looking like it had been run over a few times, you’re a victim of auction fraud. Falsely labeling an item as rare, using inaccurate stock images to represent the item, hiding significant damage or creating false positive reviews are all examples of auction fraud. It’s most com- mon on resale sites, so, bidders beware. Gift card fraud occurs when a seller asks you to pay with a prepaid gift card. The mer- chant will ask you to purchase a gift card and provide the number and PIN. Then the card is drained and you never get your item. Eager shoppers are quick to order online, expecting next-day delivery, but haste can leave shoppers vulnerable. Holiday scams are easily avoidable with some “good cyber- security hygiene”, says the FBI. Look out for phishing scams, using extreme caution when following links on social media, in emails and on websites. Like Saint Nick, check email addresses and URLs twice. The FBI also recommends reading re- views if purchasing from an unfamiliar com- pany. The extra time can save you money. Never wire money directly to a seller, says the FBI. Using a credit card for all online purchases makes tracking easier. Stay glued to tracking information pending arrival. “Don’t let #holiday excitement cloud your judgment! Always verify the legitimacy of online retailers and be cautious with un- solicited offers,” said the FBI on X. Internet literacy is a good defense against online scammers, but a study shows tech-savvy generations are more suscepti- ble to falling for internet fraud. A study from the Federal Trade Commission re- ported losses related to social media scams at $2.7 billion since 2021. In the event your package does make it to your doorstep, be wary. Dallas is known for package thieves, also known as porch pirates. ▼ ABORTION ENORMOUS RED FLAG TEXAS MATERNAL MORTALITY COMMITTEE WON’T INVESTIGATE DEATHS IN 2022–23. BY EMMA RUBY A Texas committee tasked with re- viewing the deaths of pregnant pa- tients will begin looking at cases from 2024 at its meeting on Dec. 6. This means deaths in 2022 and 2023, the first two years after Texas’ abortion ban was put in place, will not be investigated. Dr. Carla Ortique, chair of the Texas Ma- ternal Mortality Committee, said the “leap- frog” to the current year’s case load is a standard practice because the extensive na- ture of the committee’s investigations can result in multiyear backlogs. By jumping for- ward to 2024, the committee aims to remain “contemporary” in its policy recommenda- tions, Ortique said. The announcement has been met with skepticism by advocates for reproductive rights and abortion access, who believe that by skipping the years immediately following the implementation of Texas’ abortion ban, the committee could be overlooking direct impacts of the ban on maternal mortality. “It raises an enormous red flag that the committee does not want to face the true facts regarding the way that these abortion bans have affected pregnant people in Texas,” Dr. Austin Dennard, a Dallas-based OB-GYN, told the Observer. “I don’t disagree that it takes a lot of energy to review these cases, but they’re important to review. And any scientific person or anyone in medicine will tell you that we learn from data, we learn from research, and these retrospective cases are enormously important. … If we don’t have data, we’re just presuming that [the rise in maternal mortality is] related di- rectly to these abortion bans.” Earlier this year, an analysis by the Gen- der Equity Policy Institute found that be- tween 2019 and 2022, Texas’ maternal mortality rate rose by 56% compared to an 11% raise nationally. Texas’ first abortion ban, which outlawed abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, went into effect in late 2021; when Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 with the Dobbs decision, the state’s current, near-total ban went into effect. Some studies point to the abortion ban as a clear contributor to the rise in maternal deaths, although other ex- perts believe COVID-19 could have impacted the data as well. The committee does not investigate deaths that may have occurred while a woman was attempting to receive an abor- tion, but it does examine cases where miscar- riage or pregnancy complications result in the mother’s death. Reporting by ProPublica has found that since Texas’ ban went into ef- fect, at least three Texas women have died af- ter experiencing delays in care for complications of wanted pregnancies; in each instance, confusion or fear surrounding the state’s abortion ban may have impacted the women’s care, ProPublica reports. In an anonymous conversation with the Washington Post, one committee member stated they were “worried” about the deci- sion not to further investigate the years di- rectly following the ban. “If women are dying because of delays, and we have this huge new policy in Texas that af- fects their lives, why would we skip over those years?” the committee member asked. In a letter sent to the committee, Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DSHS) Commissioner Dr. Jennifer Shuford voiced support for the decision to skip cases from 2022 and 2023. She added that state Maternal and Child Health epidemiologists track mortality rates and will publicize data from 2022 and 2023 as it becomes available. Nearly every state has a Maternal Mor- tality Committee, but the committee’s roles have shifted or been challenged in some states in the post-Dobbs era. In Georgia, offi- cials dismissed every member of the Mater- nal Mortality panel after ProPublica obtained information surrounding the deaths of two women that could be linked to the state’s abortion ban. In 2023, Idaho be- came the first state to completely dissolve their committee. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas posted a warning on social media that the actions of Maternal Mortality Committees in Texas and Georgia are a part of a larger con- spiracy to “block the review and release” of in- formation relating to the state’s abortion bans. “The GOP knows the stories of pregnant women dying preventable deaths sounds bad,” Crockett said. “So they’re making sure you never hear about them.” “Propagating Misinformation” This is only the most recent controversy that the committee has faced in recent months. Earlier this year, Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB- GYN and national anti-abortion advocate, was appointed to the Texas Maternal Mor- tality Committee. Skop was one of the doc- tors who sued to revoke the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepris- tone, a common abortion-inducing drug. The case was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court this summer. Skop is also commonly called on by GOP legislators to testify against abortion access, and she signed a sworn affidavit stating that Dallas native Kate Cox, who notably left the state to receive an abortion in 2023, did not qualify for a medical abortion under the state’s exception policy. “For over 30 years, I have advocated for both of my patients, a pregnant woman and her unborn child, and excellent medicine shouldn’t require that I pit one against the other,” Skop said follow- ing her placement on the committee. Dennard was “extremely disappointed, but not surprised” by the committee’s ap- pointment of Skop, who she believes is guilty of “propagating misinformation.” While she tries not to be “cynical” about the state of her profession, Dennard has first- hand experience seeing what it takes to cir- cumnavigate Texas’ abortion ban as a pregnant woman. In 2022, Dennard was forced to leave the state to receive an abor- tion after her fetus was diagnosed with a deadly condition; although her child’s skull would never form, her life was not threat- ened by the pregnancy so an abortion was not legal under Texas state law. Following her abortion, Dennard was one of 20 women named in the Zurawski v. Texas lawsuit that urged the state to clarify lan- guage in the ban to better serve women un- dergoing pregnancy complications. The case Courtesy of City of Mesquite The FBI warns online shoppers of the four most popular internet scams. Unfair Park from p8
