Mattie’s Law fails to pass, but her parents say they won’t stop fighting

Two high-profile Orlando parents fighting for hospitals to expand newborn screenings said they are “disappointed but not deflated” that Mattie’s Law failed this Session.

“In a perfect world, we would have gotten this to the finish line and on the Governor’s desk in one Session,” said Spectrum News 13 host/anchor Allison Beacham and her restaurateur husband, Michael, in a statement. “The lives that will be lost in this coming year until we can get it back into the process could be saved with a simple stroke of a pen.”

The Beachams were advocating for a bill named after their daughter to require hospitals to screen for biliary atresia, which can show early signs of liver disease.

The Senate unanimously passed SB 1574 in early March, but the House version of the bill was never called to a Committee vote.

“To have every Senator from both sides of the aisle cosponsor the bill was truly remarkable and hopefully speaks volumes to the other chamber and the Governor’s office that this needs to happen, and happen as soon as is legislatively possible,” the Beachams said.

Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis, who sponsored SB 1574, said she plans to refile it in the 2027 Legislative Session, calling the issue “too important to walk away from.”

“Mattie and her parents have been with me every step of the way during this journey, and I made a promise to deliver for her and for other children across Florida who unfortunately have already and will come to experience the same condition without resolve,” Bracy Davis said in a statement after Friday’s Sine Die.

The Beachams have been open about sharing their daughter’s story. 

Today, Mattie is an adorable 3-year-old. But in the early months of her life, Mattie fought for her survival. She underwent a liver transplant and lost fingers on her left hand because doctors failed to act on a liver test’s troubling results when she was born, according to her parents, who sued a physician group for what they said were missed signs.

Now, they call the pediatric liver disease a ticking time bomb that must be found within a baby’s first 30 days of life to avoid an organ transplant. 

They argued that expanding newborn screenings could be easily done using the blood draw that’s already used for other screenings. Meanwhile, screening for biliary atresia would not only save lives, but also millions of dollars in the health care system. Mattie’s health care bills are $7 million, the Beachams said.

The Beachams have advocated for screenings to be required at the federal level and have spoken to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. along with U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis and Mike Haridopolos.

“While we’re confident that ‘Mattie’s Law’ will become a nationwide standard in the near future, we wanted our home state to be the first in the nation to put Floridian babies and their families first,” the Beachams said. “We — and Mattie — won’t give up until we get this done.”