through 41 of the Constitution list the fundamental rights. These rights are: Right to life, with capital punishment expressly prohibited (Article 11). Capital punishment had been abolished in Colombia in 1910 through a constitutional amendment. The Constitutional Court has ruled that the right to life is not absolute. In sentence C-355/06, the Court's opinion said that "despite its constitutional relevance, life does not have the character of a value or an absolute right and must be weighed with the other values, principles and constitutional rights." Two of the notable exceptions to the right to life ruled constitutional by the Constitutional Court are assisted suicide (decriminalized by sentence C-239/97) and abortion in case of danger to the mother's life, life-threatening fetal defects, rape, incest or non-consensual fertilization (sentence C-355/06). Concerning assisted suicide, in 1997, the Court's opinion was that the State's duty to protect life must be compatible with respect for human dignity and the free development of personality (article 16), and that in the case of terminally ill patients, this duty must give way to the informed consent of patients who wish to die with dignity. In the same case, the Court affirmed that "the right to life cannot be reduced to mere subsistence, but rather involves living adequately in dignity." In the same vein, the State cannot force an unwilling person suffering from major pain to prolonge his/her existence for a short period of time, and doing so would constitute cruel and inhumane treatment, which is banned by the Constitution (article 12). In the case of abortion, the Court argued that the basis for the prohibition of abortion in other cases was based on the State's duty to protect the life of the unborn rather than the status of the unborn as a human being entitled to the right to life. Not to be subjected to forced disappearance, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 12). Slavery, servitude and the slave trade in all forms are prohibited by Article 17. Individuals are born free and equal under the law, and shall receive equal protection and treatment from the authorities, and shall enjoy the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities. Discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, national or familial origin, language, religion, political opinion, or philosophy is explicitly banned (Article 13). The State, according to the Constitution, promotes the conditions so that "equality may be real and effective"