BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana State Legislature announced Tuesday that former Governor Kathleen Blanco is under hospice care. 

Blanco was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in 2011, and the disease reappeared during a checkup in 2017. In December 2018, she publicly said there's "no escape" from the incurable cancer that has spread throughout her body.

"I think it's biblical, and I think it's practical that we pray for those that we know and love, that have served us together," Sen. Long said Tuesday.

Legislative pool reporters also say President Bush has called Blanco during the recent news of her deteriorating health. Bush was president when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005. Blanco was serving as governor during the catastrophic storm.

"I'm asking all the people of Louisiana to pray for her and her family," Gov. John Bel Edwards said in an interview with WBRZ on Wednesday.

Blanco is a devout Catholic and says she's made peace with the disease.