An Australian politician's unique grasp of biology has created an international stir, giving birth to the bewildering term "tummy eggs" on social media.

Victorian MP Geoff Shaw, who is currently en route to the US to study America's abortion laws, has been featured in an article on the US social news website BuzzFeed under the headline: "Australian politician compares abortion to killing snake eggs."

On Thursday, the controversial balance-of-power MP told a news outlet that "in Australia we can't kill snake eggs but we are quite happy to kill an egg in the tummy and it should be the safest place for a baby to be."

The BuzzFeed story features several of the comical tweets that have been posted to #tummyeggs at the MP's expense, the hashtag still going strong a day after its conception.