PHOENIX — A judge late today blocked the state from enforcing key provisions of a new abortion law that was set to take effect at midnight tonight.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Donald Daughton agreed with arguments by attorneys for Planned Parenthood that it is unconstitutional to require a women who wants to terminate her pregnancy to make two separate trips to the clinic at least 24 hours apart. The judge said there was a possibility of “irreparable harm” if the law were allowed to take effect.

But Daughton, after hearing arguments from both sides earlier in the day, did not void the waiting period entirely.

He said the problem with the law was not the cooling off period but the fact that a woman had to go to the clinic in person and be told certain information about the procedure and alternatives by a doctor. Attorney Eve Gartner had argued the requirement for the two trips would make getting the abortion more difficult and, in some cases, impossible for some women.

For example, she said there are women in abusive relationships who would have a hard enough time concealing what they are doing from a partner with just one trip to a clinic.

She also argued that some women might not be able to get time off or a baby sitter or have transportation to come back the next day. And Gartner said that, by definition, any delay in performing the abortion makes the procedure riskier.

But Daughton voided only the requirement for the personal first visit and the requirement for information to be provided only by a doctor. He said the state can impose the 24 hour wait — but only if the information can be provided by phone and by a qualified staff member who need not be a doctor.

Daughton did bar the state from enforcing another change in law which would require that all surgical abortions be performed only by a physician. That would end the practice now used by Planned Parenthood of allowing the procedure to be performed by nurse practitioners with specialized training.

And he also voided, at least for the time being, another new section of law which sought to expand the rights of medical professionals to become involved in abortions.

Existing statute permits physicians to refuse to participate in abortions. The new language would have extended that to cover all health professionals and to say they need not “facilitate” an abortion, language Gartner said would allow a doctor to abandon a patient and not refer her to someone who will perform the procedure.

That section, which the judge enjoined, also says that doctors with religious or moral concerns are not required to tell women they have an option for emergency contraception and pharmacists need not fill the prescriptions.

Gartner had argued that could result in rape victims being denied information that could prevent them from also getting pregnant.

Finally, the judge said the state cannot require that parental consent forms allowing a minor to have an abortion be notarized — at least not yet. Daughton said the state first has to ensure that notaries are properly informed of their obligations to keep the information confidential.