In a photograph posted on the Facebook page of pro-life group Georgia Right to Life, Mr Shaw is pictured beside Paul Broun, a medical doctor best known for accusing US President Barack Obama of seeking to create a dictatorship and for his extreme stance against science.

During a 2012 election rally, the congressman from Georgia in the Deep South, famously declared: ''All that stuff I was taught about evolution, embryology, the Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell. And it's lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a saviour.''

In the photograph, posted on May 16, Mr Shaw stands next to Dr Broun and his wife Niki, before a banner reading, ''Georgia Right to Life''. The caption underneath reads: ''At Georgia Right to Life we always seek to bring the message of Personhood to others, even if they're not from our home state. Today we were honoured to have Geoff Shaw, a member of Parliament from Australia, visiting with us to learn more about what we do to protect the preborn and how he can bring the strategies we use back to Australia with him.''

A staff member for the organisation was unable to say if Mr Shaw and Congressman Broun spoke at any length or met in passing.

When contacted on Saturday morning, a spokesman for Mr Shaw said the independent member for Frankston was on a plane returning from the US and he had little detail on his two-week trip, partially taxpayer funded.

Mr Shaw plans to introduce a private member's bill before the November state election, which would outlaw gender selection and late-term abortions and require doctors to resuscitate babies who survive abortion attempts.

American pro-life campaigners have enjoyed significant success against abortion. Recent laws passed in Georgia prevent women covered by the state employees insurance agency from getting coverage for terminations in almost all cases, including rape and incest. They impose a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion and mandate women be given literature on alternatives to abortion as well controversial advice on how foetuses feel pain.

According to earlier reports, Mr Shaw's trip also took him through Ohio, another state considered to be on the front line of the US debate over abortion. No post-viability abortions are allowed and waiting periods and counselling on alternatives are also mandated. State employee health plans may not cover the procedure and girls may not have abortions without parental consent. Women seeking abortion must be offered the chance to see a foetal ultrasound and hear the foetus heartbeat.

The advocacy group NARAL Pro Choice America gives Ohio an F grade for its abortion laws.

But it is understood Mr Shaw also visited two states with comparatively liberal abortion laws, Nevada and New York.

Last week Mr Broun, a member of the US House of Representatives, failed to win a primary runoff to contest a Senate seat. Some Republican analysts feared he might have cost the Republican Party a Senate seat at the November mid-term elections because of his extreme views.

With Jill Stark