Another Milestone for Child Safety: Missouri Enacts Elijah's Law
- Elijah-Alavi Foundation
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
On July 13th, 2026, history was made.
We are incredibly grateful and deeply honored that Missouri's Elijah's Law has officially been signed into law as part of HB 2372, an omnibus healthcare bill signed by Governor Mike Kehoe.
With today's signing, Missouri becomes the seventh state in the nation to enact Elijah's Law, joining a growing movement to strengthen allergy safety in childcare settings. This milestone also builds upon two city ordinances inspired by Elijah's legacy, reflecting the continued momentum to protect children and ensure childcare providers are better prepared to prevent and respond to life-threatening allergic emergencies.
This has been a long journey to get here. It has taken years of unwavering advocacy, countless conversations with lawmakers, testimony, hearings, coalition building, and the determination of families and advocates who refused to give up. Every setback only strengthened our resolve because we knew that every child deserves to be safe in their childcare setting.
HB 2372 brought together several important healthcare initiatives, and we are especially proud that Elijah's Law was included among them. Its inclusion reflects Missouri's commitment to strengthening child health and safety and ensuring that licensed childcare providers are equipped with the policies, training, and emergency preparedness needed to help save lives. This moment represents far more than the signing of a bill. It represents years of collaboration and the shared belief that no family should experience the preventable loss of a child to an allergic reaction. What began with the heartbreaking loss of our beloved Elijah-Alavi has grown into a national movement that continues to create meaningful change and will protect countless children and families for generations to come.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Governor Mike Kehoe for signing this life-saving legislation and to the incredible legislative champions who made this possible, especially Representative Anthony T. Ealy Jr., Representative Emily Weber, Representative Jim Schulte, and every legislator who supported this bipartisan effort. Your leadership and commitment to protecting children will have a lasting impact. A very special thank you to Mandi Thayer Kearns and Robin for attending the bill signing and standing beside us on this historic day. Your presence meant more than words can express.
Mandi, thank you for courageously sharing your heartfelt story and providing powerful testimony that helped lawmakers understand the importance of bringing Elijah's Law to Missouri. Your voice, compassion, and unwavering advocacy were instrumental in helping move this legislation forward.
We are also deeply thankful to our dear friends, Jen Greenstreet and the whole Just like You Films team https://www.justlikeyoufilms.org/ Gary Riddle, and our incredible partners at Kaléo https://kaleo.com, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) https://aafa.org/, Kids With Food Allergies Foundation (KFA), the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR) https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/sites/cfaar/index.html, FARE https://www.foodallergy.org the Allergy & Asthma Network
https://allergyasthmanetwork.org, the Food Allergy Fund https://foodallergyfund.org, Chris Martinez https://weareaair.org and the many organizations and advocates who believed in this mission and stood beside us every step of the way. To every parent, advocate, healthcare professional, childcare provider, legislator, and community member who wrote letters of support, testified, attended hearings, made phone calls, sent emails, shared personal stories, and never stopped believing, thank you. This victory belongs to all of you. Together, we proved that when people unite around a common purpose, meaningful change is possible.
Today, Elijah's legacy continues to grow. With seven state Elijah's Laws and two city ordinances now inspired by his life, his story continues to protect more children, empower more families, and inspire communities across the country to take action.
Together, we made history. Together, we are saving lives. And together, we will continue building a safer future for every child.
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