The quality of medical services has increased incredibly in recent years. Diseases that were incurable years ago can now be cured. Despite these advances and early detection devices, there are still some health problems that cannot be cured. No matter how hard the doctors or clinicians try, the patient will not get better. Patients with these conditions, called terminal illnesses, can only be prepared to die. Sometimes suffering to death comes in a few days, but sometimes it takes years. To reduce the patient's suffering, doctors intervened with euthanasia and continuous sedation. The legalization of these practices has been in conflict for several years around the world. If these options are meant to help the patient, what's the problem with making them legal? Both practices for scientific and ethical reasons are problematic like any therapeutic decision near the end of life (Broeckaert). Euthanasia is defined as the practice of intentionally ending someone's life to make up for pain and suffering; any act or omission intended to end a patient's life on the basis that his or her life is not worth living (ProCon.org, What is euthanasia?). As stated in these definitions, the purpose of euthanasia is to reduce the suffering of a patient with a terminal illness. On the other hand, continuous sedation is defined as the practice in which sedation (the lowering of the patient's consciousness) is administered continuously until the moment of death (Anquinet, Raus, and Sterckx). It is considered an alternative to medically assisted suicide, also known as euthanasia. Continuous sedation aims to find a solution to a refractory symptom and to lower the level of consciousness as necessary to p...... middle of paper ......emic Search Premier. Network. March 13, 2014.Griffith, Richard. “Should assisted dying be legal?” British Journal Of Community Nursing 19.2 (2014): 94-98. Premier of academic research. Network. March 13, 2014. Messerli, Joe. BalancedPolitics.org. June 01, 2012. March 23, 2014. Powers, Carol L. “The Community Speaks: Continuous Deep Sedation as a Cure Versus Physician-Assisted Suicide as a Killing.” American Journal of Bioethics 11.6 (2011): 65-66. Premier of academic research. Network. March 23, 2014.ProCon.org. “Is the debate over euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide primarily religious in nature?” June 5, 2008. ProCon.org. Network. 13 March 2014.—. “Should euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide be legal?” March 13, 2009. ProCon.org. Network. 13 March 2014.—. “Top 10 Pros and Cons.” December 13, 2013. ProCon.org. Network. 13 March 2014.—. "What is euthanasia?" September 14, 2011. ProCon.org. Network. March 13. 2014.