Former Governor Kathleen Blanco in Hospice Care

State lawmakers are urging residents to pray for former Governor Kathleen Blanco. It has been announced that she is now in hospice care.

Blanco was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in 2011. The disease came back in 2011 and last year she said there appeared to be "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.

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

She was the first woman elected Governor of Louisiana and served from January of 2004 to January 2008.

Blanco announced in March 2007 she was not going to run for re-election saying she would focus her time on the "people's work."