Is it permissible to participate in a scientific research project that could lead to the enactment of laws allowing abortion?

First: There is no harm in participating in the research project due to the acquisition of expertise and contribution to the growth of scientific research it entails, and the hope of identifying the causes of fetal malformation and death and addressing them.

Second: The fear of legislating laws that permit abortion does not preclude participation in this project, because that is a conjectured and imagined matter.

Third: Aborting a malformed fetus has details:

1. If fetal malformation is definitively proven before the ensoulment (before 120 days), and the malformation is incurable, then the preponderant opinion is the permissibility of its termination to avert hardship and difficulty. This is what was decided by the Islamic Fiqh Council and the Permanent Committee.

2. If the malformation is doubtful, or if it is discovered after the fetus reaches 120 days, it is not permissible to terminate it unless its continuation poses a definite danger to the mother's life. The majority of contemporary jurists permit abortion before ensoulment in cases of congenital defects, and after ensoulment, abortion is not permissible unless its continuation poses a definite harm to the mother's life. One should not rush to abort because malformations may be presumptive, and are often discovered after ensoulment.

Fourth: It is not permissible to abort a healthy fetus due to the possibility of its death after birth, except in two cases: that its death is actually proven, or that its continuation poses a danger to the mother's life.