About 25 nursing mothers protested outside a Victoria's Secret lingerie store, in South Carolina, supporting the right of women to breast-feed in public, one of them holding a sign reading "The Secret's out ... Victoria supports Breasts, but not Breastfeeding."

Several weeks ago, a woman asked to use a store dressing room to nurse her 10-week-old daughter but said she was asked to go to the public bathroom at another store, a setting nursing moms call unsanitary and uncomfortable. "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 support the mothers. "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."

Officials with Limited Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, denied Rueger was asked to leave earlier but said 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 a company spokesman. "We've always been very accommodating to our customers and will continue to do that.".