That was the message from the Lowcountry mothers who gathered Thursday morning outside Victoria's Secret at the Mount Pleasant Towne Centre for a "nurse-in" supporting the of rights for women who breast-feed.

Toting signs bearing messages such as "The Secret's out ... Victoria supports Breasts, but not Breastfeeding" and "Nursing in the Bathroom Stinks!," about 25 women nursed their babies on the sidewalk underneath the store's pink-and-white striped awnings as the business opened for the day.

The women were galvanized by the experience of Lori Rueger, who several weeks ago was denied access to a Victoria's Secret dressing room in which to nurse her 10-week-old daughter. Rueger said she was asked to go next door to the public bathroom at Old Navy, a setting nursing moms call unsanitary and uncomfortable for them and their babies.

The women's efforts now have received backing from state Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, who plans to introduce a bill during the next legislative session that would protect the rights of nursing mothers in any public place they have a right to be. More than 35 other states have similar laws.

He authored a similar bill in the late 1990s, at a time when about 20 states offered protection to nursing mothers. That bill never passed.

"I guess at the time, the Legislature wasn't in a progressive frame of mind," said Limehouse, who has two children. "Well, no longer do we have to worry about being progressive. We just have to catch up with the rest of the country."

Demonstrators at Thursday's event said any stance that limits the rights of moms who breast-feed reveals hypocrisy within the Palmetto State's political system, long a champion of conservative family values.

"I don't understand, in a state like South Carolina, where values and families are so important, why this is even an issue," said Jania Sommers, who has two grown daughters but came to the nurse-in to support moms who breast-feed. "It's crazy that a national company who sells women's bodies says it's not OK to do with your body what God intended it to do."

Few of the women at the nurse-in, who ranged in age from early 20s to middle-age, have ever served as political activists before, but many said Rueger's troubles hit so close to home they felt compelled to join the demonstration.

In fact, nurse-in organizer Kella McCue, a Ladson mother of two, said she and others have formed Lowcountry Lactivists to make women who breast-feed aware of their rights and to organize nurse-ins at places that deny mothers the right to nurse their children.

Many of the mothers at the event brought along their toddlers, some of whom they nursed in chairs outside the store alongside moms feeding newborn infants. Some of the children wore outfits spreading the word about the benefits of breast-feeding.

One little girl carried a baby doll in a tiny sling and sported a pink T-shirt that said, "Smart, Cute and Healthy Thanks to Mom's Milk," alluding to studies that have found breast-feeding spurs brain growth, boosts immunity and decreases a child's risk of developing allergies. "Baby on Strike -- Don't Make Me Eat on the Potty," read the hand-lettered shirt one toddler wore as she played at her mother's feet.

Towne Centre's general manager, Joe Boyd, said the nurse-in was the first activist demonstration the shopping center has seen so far. When Victoria's Secret employees said they worried the nurse-in was hurting business, Boyd asked the women to relocate to another area of the complex, though Mount Pleasant police on hand said the women were not legally obligated to move.

"We support breast-feeding," Boyd said, explaining that, in the absence of a state law, it's up to individual businesses to decide how to handle shoppers' nursing needs.

Officials with Limited Brands, the parent company for Victoria's Secret, denied that Rueger was asked to leave the store to nurse, but previously had stated that she "became combative" when a clerk "suggested she might be more comfortable" in the restroom.

"As far as we're considered, this is a misunderstanding, and we're sorry it's gotten to this," said Anthony Hebron, a company spokesman. "We've always been very accommodating to our customers and will continue to do that."

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast-feeding over feeding babies with formula and encourages new moms to nurse until babies are at least 1 year old.

Nicole LaVallee, a licensed homebirth midwife who attended the nurse-in, said stories such as Rueger's only add to the hurdles South Carolina faces in encouraging new moms to nurse.

Despite myriad economic and child health problems that doctors say can be helped by nursing, the state has one of the lowest breast-feeding rates in the nation, she said.

Limehouse said he hopes the Victoria's Secret demonstration will serve as "a spark plug" for getting nursing rights on the legislative agenda next year.

"This is a no-brainer, and we've got to, as a society, say it's OK, it's a good thing for us to promote," he said. "It has too many positive attributes to list, so what is the big deal? It's a mother, it's a child, it's a natural thing."