News breaking from WRAL in North Carolina that Elizabeth Edwards passed away this afternoon. She was gravely ill with breast cancer and announced yesterday that she had stopped medical treatment.

She leaves behind three children who deserve all the prayers that you can muster to lift them up, no matter what your politics are.

More:

Elizabeth Edwards, the political wife whose public battle with breast cancer, coping with marital infidelity and continued advocacy for the downtrodden raised her profile above that of her husband, died Tuesday, WRAL News has learned. She was 61.

Edwards died at her Chapel Hill home, where family and friends had gathered in recent days after doctors informed her that her cancer had spread and recommended that she not undergo further treatment.

As I noted in 2005, Mrs. Edwards was able to set aside partisanship when it came to the ravages of cancer. As should we all.

R.I.P.