The underlying principle at the heart of America's constitutional protections, according to Thomas Jefferson, is declared in these words:
"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them."
Life and liberty, therefore, once "endowed" by the "Creator," are inseparable and "unalienable." Thus, the first claim asserted by America's Founders was to an inherent, "Creator-endowed," unalienable and inseparable right to life and liberty which is prior to the right of any other being's determination (including the woman whose body houses the developing child).
If rights came to us by "grants" from individuals or collections of individuals (judges, legislators, or the executive branch), then the consequence of that idea would be that those rights would be "alienable"--an idea in opposition to the Declaration and the Constitution's goal of securing the "Blessings of Liberty."
Hopefully, more and more Americans will come to realize that "ideas have consequences." In the society, once the concept is accepted that life and liberty are not inherent and derived from the Creator, but by permission (grant) of individuals or government, then no person's life and liberty is secure at any point.
The question being highlighted by today's events at Notre Dame is crucial to the preservation of liberty for all citizens--not just those in the womb.
To call legal access to abortion a right is a corruption of both the language and the founding concepts of this country. Rights are not bestowed by governments or poorly crafted supreme court decisions, they are bestowed by God. To suggest that God facilitates the heinous practice of fetuscide is taking God’s name in vain.