The Malawian health board estimates that roughly 120,000 women abort pregnancies in the Southern African state every year, despite the process being illegal under Malawian law. Yet due to the rising number of pregnant women seeking abortions through unsafe and unlicensed procedures, many are now calling for a modernization of the country's abortion laws. "Abortion is a public health crisis in Malawi and I urge policy makers to consider legalizing safe abortion to save the lives of women," said Ministry of Health deputy director of reproductive health Fanny Kachale. "Unsafe abortions contribute [to] between 20 and 30 percent of Malawi's annual maternal death figures and an effort to confront this issue could help Malawi in attaining the Millennium Development Goal number of reducing maternal deaths by two thirds by 2015."