An Internet filter that picked up a seemingly routine press release about a bank’s electing a new director dragged it into the abortion debate.
It all started in March, when the $44 million-asset University Bank of Ann Arbor, Mich., announced that it had added Alma Wheeler Smith, a former Michigan state senator, to its board.
The press release mentioned that an excerpt from one of her state Senate speeches — arguing against laws restricting so-called partial birth abortion — had been used in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court.
What the bank did not expect was that the release would pop up on students’ computer screens at the nearby Ave Maria School of Law, triggered by the words “partial birth abortion” and “Ann Arbor.”
The release was passed on to Andrew Shirvell, an anti-abortion activist who is a second-year student at the Catholic law school. He began circulating a petition for its students to pledge not to do business with the bank. He also began e-mailing members of the local Catholic community, telling them about Ms. Smith’s joining the board and urging them to boycott the bank
Mr. Shirvell said he and Stephen Lange Ranzini, the bank’s chairman and president, exchanged e-mails for months over a way to resolve the matter. Finally they agreed that Mr. Shirvell would call off the boycott if Mr. Ranzini would issue a press release saying the bank is not a supporter of the abortion procedure.
Mr. Ranzini said that though only one customer had closed an account as a result of the boycott, he did not want to antagonize members of Ann Arbor’s conservative Catholic community, who are part of his customer base.
The bank elected Ms. Smith to boost business by adding a well-known local politician to its board, not to make a statement about abortion, Mr. Ranzini said. “It’s business, not politics.”
So last Tuesday the bank issued a press release that said, “University Bank does not specifically endorse Ms. Smith’s advocacy of abortion.” It went on to say that the March press release “could have been better worded so as to reflect that University Bank is not in favor of partial birth abortion.”
Mr. Shirvell said that he was happy with the result and that he had sent out a new round of e-mails encouraging the local Catholic community to do business with the bank.
“I’m going to try to do business with him if I can,” he said, referring to Mr. Ranzini.
