EXCLUSIVE: Missouri AG offers insight into midterm ballot measures, kratom and big tech crackdowns 

While the Missouri midterm ballot is lengthy, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is recommending that voters pay special attention to three specific measures.

Choose a congressional map, protect the unborn, preserve Missouri government

First and foremost, voters should pay special attention to Proposition A – a measure to decide between the old and new congressional maps, Hanaway told Heartlander News. After a back-and-forth legal battle, the Missouri Supreme Court decided last month that the 2022 map will be used in the midterms, even though the primary elections used a new map that Gov. Mike Kehoe signed into law in September 2025.

“Really, voters are going to get to choose which congressional districts they want,” Hanaway explained.

Another hot topic on the ballot is Amendment 3, which would outlaw most abortions – aside from those deemed medically necessary, such as those related to ectopic pregnancies or cases of rape or incest – and would also prohibit all transgender therapy for minors.

“Amendment 3, to me, is so dear to my heart,” Hanaway said, encouraging voters to vote yes.

The measure would restore safety measures surrounding abortion. Right now, all abortions are legal in Missouri, and abortion clinics face minimal regulations, she said. Doctors also aren’t required to have admitting privileges – which allow them to admit patients to a hospital for care – or medical malpractice insurance.

In addition, voters should vote no on Amendment 6, Hanaway said, describing the measure as “the most un-American thing” she can imagine.

If Amendment 6 passes, pieces of legislation passed by initiative petition – a process that bypasses the legislative process by collecting signatures – over the past 10 years and beyond will be locked in as law unless 80% of the Legislature agrees to change them.

“Getting 80% of the Missouri General Assembly to do anything is impossible. … I remember when I was in the General Assembly, we debated what should be the state dirt for a couple of hours,” said Hanaway, a former Republican representative from St. Louis and the first and only woman elected speaker of the House.

She contended that Missouri liberals want to strengthen the initiative petition process because they haven’t been able to elect enough candidates, so they want to freeze the Legislature out and have the state governed by petition.

If Amendment 6 passes, elected officials will be stripped of power, and important decisions will be made at the ballot box.

“It’s just not how our system of government was intended to work,” she explained, since America is a representative democracy in which elected officials represent those who elected them.

Also, if Amendments 3 and 6 both pass, there’s a chance Amendment 3 could be nullified by Amendment 6, since the current abortion laws were passed through initiative petition. If that happens, Hanaway said she would fight for Amendment 3 to stand.

The state’s top lawyer encouraged Missourians to look at a sample ballot before going to the polls Nov. 3 for the midterm elections so they aren’t surprised by what’s on it.

“It’s a yes on Prop A, it’s a yes on Amendment 3, it’s a no on Amendment 6,” she said.

Kratom crackdown

In other actions, Hanaway highlighted that there have been 163 kratom-related deaths in Missouri alone.

Kratom – a plant-based opioid and its synthetic versions that are three to seven times more powerful than heroin – has been legally sold over the counter at gas stations and vape stores in the state.

“It’s highly addictive, it’s highly intoxicating and the sick part is that the purveyors of it have been selling it as something that helps you recover from an opioid addiction and giving you two free samples – just enough to get you addicted,” she said.

However, Hanaway said her office is “on this,” having investigated 31 companies for kratom sales. The five largest kratom sellers in the state have agreed to stop selling the drug, and Hanaway is pursuing agreements with the next nine sellers.

AG investigations

Hanaway has also been fighting big tech companies whose platforms contribute to child endangerment.

“We’re looking out for two things: number one, your privacy, and number two, the protection of your kids,” she said.

Missouri has already reached an agreement with Meta, Facebook’s parent, and investigations of TikTok and Temu are currently underway.

Hanaway said social media platforms such as Meta and TikTok have preyed on children by making them addicted to their apps. Temu threatens all Missourians because the Chinese app can manipulate a phone’s camera and microphone while also tracking its physical location, she said.

Hanaway said her office would investigate other apps that enable predators to target children, such as Discord.

“My advice to the people watching this is don’t let your kids chat or turn their camera on with anybody that they wouldn’t recognize in real life.”