The idea that rights are expanding is now common, usually along with a normative claim that rights should expand. However, rights cannot expand until they fill the ethical universe, as gas into a vacuum. Perhaps some rights have no effect beyond themselves, but most rights negate other rights. The right to life is a fundamental restriction of the right to murder. The interesting point about the recent expansion, and the secret of how rights work, is that the rights are expanding in one direction.
Rights fix in un-rights the unacceptable.
Expansion in one direction excludes in the opposite direction. Structure Rights are a codification of existing culture and society. They are the cultural, social and moral equivalent of national standards. It is no accident that the application of the concept parallels the modern national movements. Applying rights begins with applying vague general rights.