The Ministry of Health's recent proposal to allow individuals under 18 to donate organs, as part of the draft Law on Organ and Tissue Donation, Procurement, and Transplantation, and Donation and Procurement of Cadavers (amended), is facing significant opposition from the public and parents of students.
Hot topics
Among them, many opinions even compared this draft law to the situation in China, a country embroiled in controversy over forced organ harvesting and the existence of a black market.
Public reaction
These opinions are primarily concentrated on social media platforms that are trusted by the public.
Since October 21st, the keyword "organ donation" has become a hot topic, attracting hundreds of thousands of views and discussions on the Threads platform.
The message "oppose allowing minors to donate organs" is one of many widely shared viewpoints .
On the Facebook platform, quite a few people have also spoken out.
Le Minh Chanh's account suggests that "a person under 18 years old may be mature enough to decide to donate organs, for example, donate a kidney to save a life."
"But the law cannot automatically assume that everyone under 18 is mature enough, independent enough, and capable enough to make a decision that could affect their health for the rest of their lives," he said.
In line with the above opinion, an account named Bui Thi Thao called this an "inhuman bill" and therefore "opposed".
Ms. Thao expressed her annoyance, stating that even "adults don't fully understand the consequences," let alone "children who know nothing about body and organ donation."
Notably, public opinion was particularly outraged by reports that some primary schools were conducting online surveys among students regarding this draft.
According to RFA, the survey questionnaires were distributed in early October, reportedly to prepare data for submission to the National Assembly for approval of the draft Law on Donation, Procurement, and Transplantation of Human Tissues, Organs, and Cadavers (amended).
In addition, the online community also circulated a post from the Fanpage "Soc Trang Secondary School Student Union - Soc Trang Ward, Can Tho City" urging teachers to send surveys to students.
Currently, both the survey link and the promotional article have been deleted and are inaccessible.
"The deployment of online surveys on the draft to children in Ho Chi Minh City - through the Youth Union Council, class groups, including elementary school students in grades 5 and 6 - is a reckless, irresponsible approach and a serious violation of protection principles," commented user Huyen Trang .
This person further emphasized that "asking questions about life, death, brain death, circulatory death, and organ donation directly to children without their guardians is not only a legal transgression, but inadvertently becomes an act of psychological violence under the guise of 'soliciting opinions'."
Sharing the same view, user Quynh Hoa argued that "children are not subjects for policy experiments or to be dragged into the vortex of complex legal issues," and called the distribution of opinion polls an "immoral" act.
"It's immoral because children are not among the target group for consultation on the draft law. Absolute protection for living people – especially children – must not be compromised or obscured by any other humanitarian purpose. Expanding this law is directly aiding and abetting the crime of human organ trafficking," Ms. Hoa explained.
Along with the wave of protests, many people also shared a form for parents of students, requesting them to "refuse to let their children participate in the organ donation survey."
What do the parents say?
In response to these controversies, RFA investigated and recorded direct opinions from several parents with children attending primary school.
Ms. NTMG (Ho Chi Minh City), whose child is about to enter 6th grade, expressed her anxiety about living in what she calls an "unsafe" society.
"Out on the streets, there are cars and accidents; when eating, there's fear of food poisoning and illness; everywhere in this society, you see unsafe conditions as the law continues to deteriorate."
Now that I hear about my child being donated for organs and tissues, I don't know what to do.
My child is my life; even the slightest scratch on them breaks my heart.
"Imagine your child never coming home one day, and then you hear they've lost their organs—what parent could possibly live like that?"
For another parent, Ms. HMT (Dien Hong ward, Ho Chi Minh City), the owner of a preschool and also a mother of young children, she was surprised to learn that this new draft is being submitted to the National Assembly for approval.
"Previously, I only knew that people who were 18 years old and wanted to donate organs had to have sufficient awareness of what they were doing."
I was surprised to hear about the policy change that expands participation to include those under 18, and that the school sent out surveys to gather feedback from elementary school students.
Children don't know anything; they don't have enough awareness to offer voluntary suggestions.
"It's the same mindset for any parent: if something unfortunate happens to their child, the decision-maker must be a family member," Ms. T explained.
Having spent many years working with children and observing their lives, Ms. T believes that "going out on the streets now makes me feel very sad" when witnessing many 5-7 year old children who should be in school but are instead wandering around selling lottery tickets, collecting scrap metal, and begging in many areas of Ho Chi Minh City.
According to her, these children, "living in a country with many loopholes in the law like Vietnam," are very easily targeted by criminals, especially now that the National Assembly has passed the new law, which further increases the risk of "abetting black markets for organ trafficking and creating more crime in society."
"With orphaned children wandering the streets like that, it's not difficult at all. Organ traffickers can easily forge identity documents for these children to achieve their own selfish goals, regardless of conscience and morality," Ms. T said.
"I don't understand why some children are living on the streets without adequate legal protection," Mr. L.D (Tan Phu Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) also questioned.
He argued that homeless children, without parents or guardians, are easily becoming "prey" for kidnappings or staged accidents aimed at harvesting their organs.
Mr. D, whose 6-year-old child is in first grade, also fears that his child "will suffer exactly the same fate."
"Children are inherently innocent and pure, knowing little about the world or topics involving blood and gore, so the state raising issues like this is inappropriate."
In this society, anything is possible; there's nothing they wouldn't dare to do. They even dare to commit murder, right? And the trafficking of children's organs is no different, it's even considered a minor issue.
"Like in China, from what I've learned, there's a lot of information indicating that organ traffickers are falsifying medical records, documents showing supposed relationships, signatures, and consent forms from parents or guardians to easily access and impersonate organ donation consent forms from young children."
The Ministry of Health reassures the public.
Following numerous reactions to the draft proposal, the Ministry of Health has taken certain steps to reassure the public.
In an interview with Tuoi Tre newspaper on October 22, a representative from the Ministry of Health stated that "soliciting children's opinions stems from the requirement when developing policies and laws that affect children."
The ministry also stated that the consultation was conducted with the general public, including children aged 7 to under 18, to answer nine survey questions related to the bill.
Children participating in the survey "must be guided," and feedback has not yet been collected from all children aged 7 and above.
On October 23rd, the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health) stated that the drafting of the law had followed the correct procedures, affirming that "the safety, rights, and best interests of children are paramount," and indicated that the draft was still open for public comment.
Regarding the draft amendment law
Open for public comment since August 2026, the draft Law on Donation, Procurement, and Transplantation of Human Tissues, Organs, and Bodies (amended) expands the scope of organ and tissue donation to children under 18 years of age.
Accordingly, in the case of living donation, children under 15 years old; and those aged 15 to under 18 years old will be permitted to donate cells or tissues for regeneration, with the consent of the donor and their representative.
For posthumous donation, the donation process must meet two conditions. First, the child must express a wish to donate before death. Second, the consent of the parents or guardians must be obtained.
Besides the definition of brain death, the draft also adds a definition and criteria for determining circulatory death as a legal basis for tissue and organ harvesting.
The regulations also allow for the retrieval of sperm and eggs for the purpose of preserving fertility.
All tissue and organ procurement and transplantation procedures must be carried out through a centralized management system, classified with codes issued by the National Coordination Center.
Notably, although the draft law is still under consideration by the National Assembly, the Government Electronic Newspaper on October 21st, the same day the Ministry of Health submitted it to the National Assembly, clearly stated , "This law will take effect from January 1st, 2028."